Historical Perspectives

Abstract

The period between the Franco-Prussian War (1871) and the beginning of World War I (1914), rich in scientific discoveries and filled with artistic creation, opened a new era in medicine. A high infant mortality rate, which was fueled by lack of basic hygiene, curtailed population growth in various European countries. Governments were worried, especially in France, (1)(2)(3) where industrialization and colonization were in progress. The “European Empires” needed men for industry, the military, and the colonies. Influential political men such as Dr Bourneville, a senator of the French Republic, (4) turned to obstetricians to solve the acute problem of infant mortality and address the depopulation issue. This powerful physician facilitated the creation of modern maternity units managed by certified obstetricians instead of surgeons. Maternal mortality had decreased markedly, starting in 1890, thanks to the introduction of antisepsis. A participant in this effort was the young doctor Pierre Budin, a senior resident of Stephane Tarnier, the leader of French obstetrics. (5) In 1874, he was sent to study with Joseph Lister in Edinburgh (6) to learn the preventive treatment of surgical infections. Puerperal fever had decimated maternity units to such an extent that some were closed intermittently. This serious issue absorbed so much of Dr Tarnier's energy that he was forced to take a leave of absence to prevent his health from deteriorating. A friend of Budin, Lucas Championniere, (7) a young surgeon, had preceded him on this path by working for a few months with Lister at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. In Paris, he already was applying the antiseptic method of Lister with extremely good results. (7) Shortly after Championniere, Budin made the trip to Scotland and learned all the details of the antiseptic method. He also benefited from the teaching of Duncan, the chief …