In the 1800s, rampant infections made giving birth in a hospital more dangerous than a battlefield. Yet, a simple practice pioneered by one man would eventually transform the world of medicine and save millions of lives. What was it? And what happened to him? Both answers will leave you ASTOUNDED. This is the story of Ignaz Semmelweis, the “Patron Saint” of Medical Hygiene.
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Considering we’ve been doing it since the very beginning of our species, you’d think a little thing like childbirth would be pretty easy for human beings to pull off. But did you know there was a time not too long ago when nearly 1 in 3 women who gave birth would suffer serious medical side effects? And to make matters worse, that was 1 in 3 women who gave birth IN A HOSPITAL?
Welcome to the 1800s, a time when simply having a baby in a hospital had a higher death rate than flying a WWII bombing mission over Europe – at least until one man showed up to change all that. His name was Ignaz Semmelweis, and his story is a unique mix of tragedy, perseverance, and triumph. Perhaps the most shocking thing about Semmelweis is that the technique he pioneered – the one that saved millions of lives and continues to save more to this day – is one of the most obvious solutions in medical history.
The Horror of the 1800s
We’ve already painted a picture of just how risky it was to give birth in the 1800s. However, we haven’t painted a complete picture. Obviously, given the time, we can understand that there was a distinct lack of modern medical interventions. There were no epidurals or sonograms or high-tech devices designed to minimise complications for mother and baby.
But the real issue was HYGEINE.
In the 1800s, Western cities like New York, London, and Paris had suffered rapid urbanisation and were incredibly overcrowded. Plumbing, however, had yet to be invented, so both human and industrial waste was often dumped into rivers, streets, or even directly onto passersby, depending on which floor you lived on.In short: everything you touched was covered in bacteria. The only problem? Doctors didn’t know what bacteria were.At the time, germ theory was in its infancy. Doctors and scientists alike had a very poor understanding of infection control, which meant that any medical procedure was just as likely to make you ill as it was to cure you of whatever ailed you. Surprisingly enough, hygiene was worst in hospitals – a fact that will come into play in a big way later on.
Childbirth and Hospitals
Hygiene during medical procedures is now fundamental in preventing infections. Even when applying a simple bandage, doctors and nurses will carefully wash and sanitise materials in order to avoid healthcare-associated infections. This is because we understand what germs are and how they work, and we know that any sort of infection can have severe – sometimes deadly – consequences.
Medical professionals in the 1800s did not utilise these practices. So, where hospitals were supposed to be these beacons of health, they were actually among the most dangerous places you could go. But here’s the problem: nobody knew it. To make matters worse, this coincided with another growing trend.
You see, for most of history, women gave birth at home, typically with the help of midwives. This was typically due to the fact that medical assistance was usually miles away. But in cities, more and more people lived in cramped apartments, not houses. So, when it came time to give birth, it only made sense to head down to the local hospital and let the professionals handle it, right?
Wrong.
An absolutely staggering number of women acquired bacterial infections – then known as “childbed fever” – due to the bacteria that ran rampant in local hospitals. In some cities, maternal mortality rates were as high as 1 in 30 births. Infant mortality was equally devastating due to conditions like neonatal sepsis or birth asphyxia, with up to 20% of babies dying in their first year of life.
Tragic. Yes. But people simply didn’t know better. Well, MOST people anyway…
Enter Ignaz Semmelweis
Ignaz Semmelweis was born in 1818 in what is now Budapest, Hungary. He grew up decidedly middle class, which gave him a distinct advantage at a time when most people were either filthy rich or dirt poor. Although he initially studied law, Ignaz eventually switched to medicine, attending the prestigious University of Vienna. He earned his doctorate in 1844 and – after failing to become an internist – decided to try obstetrics.
Without over-disparaging the medical professionals of the day, many of whom were just doing their best, it’s important to understand that most of these men simply lacked knowledge. Others, however, still subscribed to Humorism, a belief that imbalances in four bodily fluids caused all illnesses. This resulted in treatments like bleeding, isolation, and leeching.
When he joined the First Obstetrical Clinic of the Vienna General Hospital, the first thing Semmelweis noticed was that the death rates in these clinics were shockingly high, especially from childbed fever. But that’s not all. He also noticed that the women who gave birth in the literal streets of the city had a lower death rate than those who gave birth in the hospital.
Something was wrong – he just needed to figure out what it was. So, Ignaz focused his efforts on two clinics: one that had an uncommonly higher maternal mortality rate and one where the death rate was uncommonly low. If he could figure out what was or was not happening, the implications would be huge.
As it turned out, they were bigger than he could have ever expected.
Ignaz’ Fight Against Childbed Fever
The two clinics were almost perfect replicas of one another. They used the same techniques. They saw roughly the same number of patients. The only real difference – minus the mortality rate – was that the more deadly clinic was staffed by medical students, while the clinic with the lower mortality rate was run by midwives.
And therein lay the secret. Ignaz observed that medical students often rushed around from task to task. One moment, they would be performing an autopsy. Minutes later, they would be called in to help deliver a baby. The midwives, having no knowledge of autopsies or other medical procedures, only delivered babies.
The pieces were just starting to come together when tragedy struck.
Semmelweis’ colleague, Jakob Kolletschka, died after being pricked by a student’s scalpel during an autopsy. Shortly after, he developed a serious illness and died. As terrible as this was, it provided Ignaz with the clue he needed to finish the puzzle. His friend’s symptoms had almost perfectly mirrored those of the women who suffered from childbed fever.
The conclusion is? Physicians were unknowingly spreading the disease from cadavers to their patients. Even without the knowledge provided by modern germ theory, Semmelweis instinctively understood that some form of contamination was occurring.
His proposal? Physicians should start washing their hands.
Assembling the medical students and physicians at the first clinic, he carefully instructed them to wash their hands with a chlorinated lime solution before examining patients and between any autopsy or other medical procedure. Within a few weeks, the mortality rate at the first clinic dropped from 10% to less than 1%. By the time several months had gone by, the clinic was reporting zero maternal deaths.
Unfortunately, Ignaz’s story had another turn to take.
Tragic End, Revolutionary Legacy
Semmelweis may have made a groundbreaking discovery, but medical professionals can be a stubborn lot. His suggestion that doctors’ hands could carry deadly infections was met with disbelief and ridicule by the medical community, who were insulted at the very suggestion that they could accidentally be doing harm. At the time, most physicians were from upper-class backgrounds and simply could not accept that they were the reason behind the deaths of so many common women.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, politics won the day. Semmelweis was eventually dismissed from his position at the Vienna General Hospital. He returned to Budapest, where he continued to promote hand hygiene as a solution to hospital-acquired infections. However, with no concept of germ theory to back up his assertions, he would have had more luck convincing doctors that their hands were possessed by ghosts.
His frustration grew, and he began sending angry letters to prominent physicians, accusing them of being responsible for the deaths of countless mothers. As his behaviour became more and more erratic, his friends, colleagues, and even his wife began to worry that he was suffering from a mental illness. Finally, in 1965, Ignaz was committed to a mental asylum, where he died 14 days later. Tragically, it’s likely he died after acquiring a bacterial infection.
Conclusion
Though he would never live to see it, Ignaz Semmelweis’ accomplishments have gone on to save countless lives – and not just mothers. Just a few years after he passed away, Louis Pasteur pioneered germ theory and Joseph Lister developed his groundbreaking antiseptic techniques. As the years wore on, the evidence that Ignaz had been correct mounted. Eventually, the medical community was forced to accept the importance of hygiene in preventing infections.
Today, Semmelweis is considered the pioneer of antiseptic policy, and his legacy lives on in hospitals and medical schools worldwide. Though he died in obscurity, he is now revered as a hero. And to think: all they had to do was wash their hands?
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