Ignaz Semmelweis, Savior of Mothers

On today's episode, we'll explore the  story of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, an obstetrician from the 19th century who discovered the importance of hand-washing for preventing Childbed Fever and started a campaign to change the behavior of the entire medical industry. 

In so doing, he would be ostracized, villainized, ignored, and committed to an insane asylym where he would be beaten and ultimately die as this preventable disease continued to kill thousands of mothers. 

For this episode, I had the privilege of interviewing:

• Dr. Leslie S. Leighton, Medical Historian and Instructor for the Department of History at Georgia State University
• Dr. Elif Vatanoğlu-Lutz, Professor of Ethics and History of Medicine at Yeditepe University Medical Faculty
• Dr. Justin Lessler, Professor for the Department of Epidemiology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Public Health

I hope you enjoy today's episode.

For more information about the story of Ignaz Semmelweis, I hope you'll consider the book ‘Genius Belabored’ by Theodore G. Obenchain, which you can find at bit.ly/45RJ04W

To learn more about the show, view transcripts, and more visit:
https://www.actsofimpact.com

Voiceover work by Peter Szocs
Music by Alex Grohls.