Chapter 01 of 5
The Two Clinics
Why giving birth in one Vienna ward was far deadlier than in the ward next door.
- The Setting
Vienna, 1846
The Vienna General Hospital ran one of the largest maternity services in the world, offering free care to poor women.
- The Arrival
A new assistant
That year a 28-year-old Hungarian doctor, Ignaz Semmelweis, became an assistant in the hospital's First Obstetrical Clinic.
- The Killer
Childbed fever
Many new mothers caught puerperal, or "childbed", fever. It started with chills and fever and often killed within days.
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Could you answer this?
Why did some women beg not to be sent to the First Clinic?
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🧼 The Doctor Who Said Wash Your Hands
- 01The Two ClinicsWhy giving birth in one Vienna ward was far deadlier than in the ward next door.
- 02A Fatal CutA friend's death in the dissecting room revealed what doctors were carrying.
- 03Chlorine and SilenceThe handwashing rule that saved hundreds, and the doctors who refused to believe it.
- 04Calling Them MurderersA long-awaited book, a cold reception and a series of furious open letters.
- 05The Germ of TruthA lonely death, a vindication that came too late, and why we still talk about him.