St Anthony's fire and living ligatures: a short history of ergometrine

Abstract

Ergometrine, although now declining in use, has been the most important drug for prevention and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage, which is still a major cause of maternal mortality. “Ergot of rye”, wrote Francis Ramsbotham, founder of the Obstetrical Society of London, in 1841, “has been known to possess deleterious and poisonous qualities for more than 800 years, and it has been used on the continent by female midwives as a promoter of labour pains for nearly 150 years”.1 Ergotism, or epidemic ergot poisoning, caused by eating affected rye bread, was indeed one of the scourges of the Middle Ages, and use and abuse of ergot as a uterine stimulant by midwives has been frequently documented.