Why washing hands saved mothers in 1847: Semmelweis and the two wards
30seconds
In 1846, mothers in one Vienna maternity ward died at four times the rate of mothers in the ward next door. The doctors' ward was losing 11.4% of its patients; the midwives' ward, 2.8%.
Ignaz Semmelweis worked out that the doctors were carrying something from the autopsy room to the delivery bed. When he ordered handwashing in chlorinated lime in 1847, deaths fell from 18.3% in April to 2.2% in June. Run the ward yourself and see how much washing it takes.
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