Ignaz Semmelweis

Who was Ignaz Semmelweis?

Ignaz Semmelweis was a Hungarian doctor who worked at Vienna General Hospital. He recommended that doctors should wash their hands in chloride of lime.

When was Semmelweis a doctor?

Semmelweis was a doctor during the 1840s.

How did Semmelweis make his discovery?

Semmelweis realised the death rate among women giving birth in hospital was higher than among those giving birth at home. He believed this was because doctors often delivered babies after dissecting dead bodies.