Evidence, Alternative Facts and Narrative: A personal reflection on person-centred care and the role of stories in healthcare

In 1846, Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian physician working in the General Hospital in Vienna noted that in that year 451 women in the doctors ’ Maternity Ward Number 1 died of puerperal (childbirth) fever. This contrasted with the midwives’ Ward Number 2 next door, in which only 90 women died. The assumed explanation, based on miasma theory, was that Ward Number 1 had bad air which Ward Number 2 did not. The fact was that the doctors’ post-mortem room, which midwives did not use, was conveniently close by and doctors moved regularly between it and their maternity ward without cleaning themselves up.
Source: International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine - Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Source Type: research