Puerperal fever - Definition and Overview

Puerperal fever is caused by infection of the genital tract shortly after giving birth, although any fever within two weeks of childbirth is dangerous since it can cause infertility or septicaemia. Puerperal fever is now rare due to improved hygiene during delivery and antibiotics.

History

In past centuries, puerperal fever was the greatest killer of women. One sixth of women died of this fever. In 1795, Alexander Gordon of Aberdeen suggested that the fevers were infectious processes, and he was able to cure them. The majority of the scientists disagreed. In 1843, Oliver Wendell Holmes claimed puerperal fever was contagious, suggesting that hand-washing and clean clothing would prevent its spread. These conclusions were again merely ridiculed by the scientific consensus. In 1849, working without knowledge of Holmes's essay, Ignaz Semmelweis showed that sanitary techniques virtually eliminated puerperal fever in hospitals under his management. However, he too was treated with skepticism and ridicule. He was ignored and dismissed from his post.

The true mechanism of puerperal fever was not generally believed until the start of the 20th century. In 1879 Louis Pasteur showed that streptococcus was present in the blood of women with puerperal fever. By the turn of the century, the need for antiseptic techniques was widely accepted, and their practice along with the introduction of new antibiotics greatly diminished the rate of death during childbirth.