Ignaz Semmelweis (1818–1865) was a Hungarian physician and pioneer in the field of antiseptic procedures. He is best known for his work in advocating hand hygiene to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, particularly puerperal fever, also known as “childbed fever,” in maternity wards.

Semmelweis was born on July 1, 1818, in Buda, Hungary (now part of Budapest). He studied medicine at the University of Vienna and later became an assistant in the maternity clinic at the Vienna General Hospital.

Semmelweis’s breakthrough came in the 1840s when he observed a significant difference in the mortality rates of women in two maternity clinics within the hospital. One clinic was staffed by medical students and physicians, while the other was staffed by midwives. The clinic staffed by medical professionals had a much higher mortality rate due to puerperal fever.

After careful investigation, Semmelweis deduced that the medical students and doctors were coming to the maternity ward directly from the autopsy room, where they handled cadavers, without proper handwashing. He concluded that they were inadvertently transmitting infectious material from cadavers to the women during childbirth.

In 1847, Semmelweis implemented a policy requiring medical staff to wash their hands with a chlorinated lime solution before entering the maternity ward. The result was a significant reduction in the incidence of puerperal fever and a subsequent decline in maternal mortality.

Despite the success of his handwashing protocol, Semmelweis faced considerable resistance and criticism from the medical community. His ideas were not widely accepted during his lifetime, and he struggled to convince others of the importance of hand hygiene in preventing the spread of infectious diseases.

Tragically, Semmelweis suffered a mental breakdown and was committed to an asylum in 1865, where he died at the age of 47. His contributions to the understanding of the importance of handwashing in healthcare settings were not fully appreciated until later, after the germ theory of disease gained acceptance. Semmelweis is now recognized as a pioneer in the field of antiseptic practices, and his work has had a profound and lasting impact on modern healthcare.