Carl Siegmund Franz Credé (December 23, 1819 – March 14, 1892) was a German gynecologist and obstetrician who was a native of
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In 1842 he received his doctorate from the University of Berlin. In 1852 he became director of the "Berlin School of Midwives" and chief physician of the
maternityMaternity is the social and legal acknowledgment of the parental relationship between a mother and her child.It is specially related with the protection of the baby and the mother within and after the childbirth.- See also :* Mitochondrial Eve* Paternity...
division at the Berlin
CharitéThe Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin is the medical school for both the Humboldt University and the Free University of Berlin. After the merger with their fourth campus in 2003, the Charité is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe....
. Later he was appointed professor of
obstetricsObstetrics is the surgical specialty dealing with the care of women and their children during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal. Midwifery is the non-medical equivalent...
and director of the maternity hospital in
LeipzigLeipzig is, with a population of 515,459, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany.-Origins:Leipzig's name is derived from the Slavic word Lipsk, which means "settlement where the lime trees stand"....
.
Carl Siegmund Franz Credé (December 23, 1819 – March 14, 1892) was a German gynecologist and obstetrician who was a native of
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In 1842 he received his doctorate from the University of Berlin. In 1852 he became director of the "Berlin School of Midwives" and chief physician of the
maternityMaternity is the social and legal acknowledgment of the parental relationship between a mother and her child.It is specially related with the protection of the baby and the mother within and after the childbirth.- See also :* Mitochondrial Eve* Paternity...
division at the Berlin
CharitéThe Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin is the medical school for both the Humboldt University and the Free University of Berlin. After the merger with their fourth campus in 2003, the Charité is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe....
. Later he was appointed professor of
obstetricsObstetrics is the surgical specialty dealing with the care of women and their children during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal. Midwifery is the non-medical equivalent...
and director of the maternity hospital in
LeipzigLeipzig is, with a population of 515,459, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany.-Origins:Leipzig's name is derived from the Slavic word Lipsk, which means "settlement where the lime trees stand"....
. In Berlin and Leipzig, Credé established out-patient gynecology clinics. Credé was father-in-law to gynecologist
Christian Gerhard LeopoldChristian Gerhard Leopold was a German gynecologist who was born in Meerane, Saxony. In 1870 he earned his medical doctorate from the University of Leipzig, where he studied under Carl Siegmund Franz Credé , who would later become his father-in-law...
(1846-1912).
Carl Credé is famous for introducing the use of
silver nitrateSilver nitrate, also known as lunar caustic, is a soluble chemical compound with chemical formula AgNO
3. This compound is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. Comparatively, it is far less sensitive to light than the halides...
eyedrops as an
antisepticAntiseptics are antimicrobial substances that are applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putrefaction...
for the prevention of
ophthalmia neonatorumNeonatal conjunctivitis, also known as ophthalmia neonatorum, is a form of bacterial conjunctivitis contracted by newborns during delivery. The baby's eyes are contaminated during passage through the birth canal from a mother infected with either Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Chlamydia trachomatis....
in newborns. He used a 2% silver nitrate solution, and first demonstrated its effectiveness in the early 1880s. During a three-year period, Credé treated 1160 newborns with silver nitrate, and only two infants developed ophthalmia. The silver nitrate solution is sometimes referred to as "Credé's prophylaxis" in medical literature. Later, the solution was diluted to 1% silver nitrate, and became a standard practice in obstetrics.
Credé is also credited for implementing a procedure to hasten delivery of the
placentaThe placenta is an organ unique to mammals that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall. The placenta supplies the fetus with oxygen and food, and allows fetal waste to be disposed of via the maternal kidneys...
during the third stage of labor. With Dr. Leopold, he co-authored
Clinical Lectures on Midwifery, which was later translated into English.