Zaneria Bellamy

Ms. Keillor
29, January 2017
Inez Semmelweis
Inez Semmelweis introduced hand disinfection standards,
focusing it in childbirth clinics. The question why are these
mothers and babies dying right after birth was thrown around a
lot until Semmelweis started collecting his data.
Before hand washing was discovered doctors wondered why
when mothers were in labor they died instantly. Many theories
were tested to see what was really
going on with it. Dr. Semmelweis
got a job in the maternity clinic at
the General Hospital in Vienna,
then thats when he started
collecting and researching about
why women in the maternity ward
were dying from puerperal fever. The data he collected ranged all
the way from the staff in the hospitals to a priest walking slowly
through the doctors clinic, past the womens bed, ringing a bell
startling them to death. He was lost until one day a pathologists
died from pricking his finger while doing an autopsy on a woman
with childbed fever (puerperal fever). But yet his question still
wasnt answered.
In todays everyday life there are so many bugs, and disease
going around that if a care giver doesnt wash their hands he/she
is not only putting their life in jeopardy but the patients. For
example: say a patient has AIDS/HIV and the care giver checks
out the patient and draws blood then skips the whole hand
washing process and go to another patient who has open wounds.
So now not only is the main patient is infected this other one is
effected also because of the care giver thinking it wouldnt
spread. Without the introduction of washing your hands the world
would still be like it was in the 1800s and back.
 Before the theory of
handwashing came about 5 in 1,000
died from childbed fever. All of these
babies and their mothers could have
been saved from agonizing deaths.
Once it came about that washing your hands prevented
diseases not only did less mothers and their babies died
also along with regular people.
In conclusion Inez Semmelweis made an important
contribution to medical science with his discovery that washing
your hands helped with the prevention of childbed fever which
thats what all the mothers and their children was dying of. This
method is still around today which have saved millions of people.
 Work Citied
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2015. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.
2."In 1850, Ignaz Semmelweis saved lives with
three words: wash your hands." PBS. PBS, 15
May 2015. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.
3.Ginnivan, Leah. "The Dirty History of Doctors
Hands." Method. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.
4.Clark, Laura. "The Doctor Who Introduced the
Virtues of Hand Washing Died of an Infection."
Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, 15
Jan. 2015. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.
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