Carl Siegmund Franz Credé (23 December 1819 – 14 March 1892) was a German

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

and

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, most famous for preventing

neonatal conjunctivitis Neonatal conjunctivitis is a form of conjunctivitis (inflammation of the outer eye) which affects newborn babies following birth. It is typically due to neonatal bacterial infection, although it can also be non-infectious (e.g. chemical exposure) ...

via

Credé's prophylaxis Credé prophylaxis is the practice of washing a newborn's eyes with a 1% silver nitrate solution to protect against neonatal conjunctivitis caused by ''Neisseria gonorrhoeae'', thereby preventing blindness. The Credé procedure was developed ...

, a dilute

silver nitrate Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It was once called ''lunar causti ...

solution dropped into the eye immediately after birth, thus saving the eyesight of millions. In 1842 he received his doctorate from the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. In 1852 he became director of the "Berlin School of Midwives" and chief physician of the

maternity A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestatio ...

division at the Berlin

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine; ) is Europe's List of hospitals by capacity, largest university hospital, affiliated with Humboldt University of Berlin, Humboldt University and the Free ...

. Later he was appointed professor of

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...

and director of the maternity hospital in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. In Berlin and Leipzig, Credé established out-patient gynecology clinics. He was the father of surgeon

Benno Credé Carl Benno Credé (1 September 1847 in Berlin – 14 March 1929 in Dresden) was a German surgeon. He was the son of gynecologist Carl Siegmund Franz Credé (1819–1892). He studied medicine at the universities of Zürich and Leipzig, receiving h ...

(1847–1929) and a father-in-law to gynecologist Christian Gerhard Leopold (1846–1912). Among his better known students at Leipzig was gynecologist Johann Friedrich Ahlfeld (1843–1929). Carl Credé is famous for introducing the use of silver nitrate eyedrops as an

antiseptic An antiseptic ( and ) is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue to reduce the possibility of sepsis, infection, or putrefaction. Antiseptics are generally distinguished from ''antibiotics'' by the latter's abil ...

for the prevention of neonatal conjunctivitis. 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, with only 0.15% of the infants developing ophthalmia. The silver nitrate solution is sometimes referred to as "

" in medical literature, and other eyedrop prophylactics (for example, antibiotics) are still called by the same name. Later, the solution was diluted to 1% silver nitrate, and became a standard practice in obstetrics. As neonatal conjunctivitis used to occur in around 10% of newborns and cause about half of all cases of blindness in Europe, Credé is credited with saving the eyesight of millions. The original procedure called for a 2% silver nitrate solution administered immediately after birth, as Credé erroneously believed that a 1% solution was ineffective due to a previous study by Hecker; however, this was eventually corrected and reduced back down to a 1% solution to reduce chemical irritation to the newborn's eyes. Credé is also credited for implementing a procedure to hasten delivery of the

placenta The placenta (: placentas or placentae) is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas, and waste exchange between ...

; it being named Credé's manoeuvre. From 1853 to 1869, he edited the "''Monatsschrift für Geburtskunde''", and from 1870 onward, was an editor of the "''Archiv für Gynäkologie''".

Selected works

* ''Klinische Vorträge über Geburtshilfe'', two volumes, Berlin, 1853-1854 – Clinical lectures on midwifery. * ''Ueber Erwärmungsgeräthe für frühgeborene und schwächliche kleine Kinder'', (a treatise on warming devices for prematures and feeble tiny children) Mittheilungen aus der geburtshüflichen Klinik in Leipzig. "Archiv für Gynäkologie", 1884, 24: 128–147. * ''Die Verhütung der Augenentzündung der Neugeborenen''. 1884 – The prevention of ophthalmia of the newborn.Carl Siegmund Franz Credé - bibliography
@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

References

Health and Medical Biographies
(biography of Carl Siegmund Franz Credé) {{DEFAULTSORT:Crede, Carl Siegmund Franz 1819 births 1892 deaths German gynaecologists German obstetricians Physicians from Berlin