Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures and was described as the “savior of mothers.” Postpartum infection (also known as puerperal fever or childbed fever) consists of any bacterial infection of the
reproductive tract following birth, and in the 19th century was common and often fatal. After comparing data with another hospital, Dr. Semmelweis discovered that the incidence of infection could be drastically reduced by
requiring healthcare workers in obstetrical clinics to disinfect their hands.
In 1847, he proposed hand washing with chlorinated lime solutions at Vienna General Hospital’s First Obstetrical Clinic, where doctors’ wards had three times the mortality of midwives’ wards. The maternal mortality rate dropped
from 18% to less than 2%, and he published a book of his findings.