Puerperalfever:Feverthatlastsformorethan24hourswithinthefirst10daysafterawomanhashadababy.Puerperalfeverisduetoaninfection,mostoftenoftheplacentalsitewithintheuterus.Iftheinfectioninvolvesthebloodstream,itconstitutespuerperalsepsis.Puerperalfeverhasgonebyanumberofdifferentnamesincludingchildbirthfever,childbedfeverandpostpartumfever.InLatina"puerpera"isawomaninchildbirthsince"puer"meanschildand"parere"meanstogivebirth.Thepuerperiumisthetimeimmediatelyafterthedeliveryofababy.Historicalnote:ThreeofthenamesmostcloselyassociatedwithpuerperalfeverareAlexanderGordon,OliverWendellHolmes,andIgnazPhilipSemmelweiss.Dr.AlexanderGordon(1752-1799)inAberdeen,Scotlandwasthefirsttoidentifythecauseofpuerperalfever.In1795,Gordonwrote:"IwillnotventurepositivelytoassertthatthePuerperalFeverandErysipelasarepreciselyofthesamespecificnature...(but)thattheyareconcomitantepidemicsIhaveunquestionableproofs.ForthesetwoepidemicsbeganinAberdeenatthesametime,andafterwardskeptpacetogether;theyarrivedattheiracmetogether,andtheybothceasedatthesametime.Afterdeliverytheinfectiousmatterisreadilyandcopiouslyadmittedbythenumerouspatulousorifices,whichareopentoimbibeit,bytheseparationoftheplacentafromtheuterus."Gordonaddedthat:"Thediseaseseizedsuchwomenonlyaswerevisited,ordeliveredbyapractitioner...ornursewhohaspreviouslyattendedpatientsafflictedwiththedisease.ItisadisagreeabledeclarationformetomentionthatIwasmyselfthemeansofcarryingtheinfectiontoagreatnumberofwomen."In1843OliverWendellHolmes(1809­-1894),ProfessorofAnatomy&PhysiologyatHarvard,wroteinhiscelebratedpaperentitled"OntheContagiousnessofPuerperalFever"that:"...ifonecaseofpuerperalfeverarisesinaphysician'spracticethereisanincreasedriskofasecond,twocasessuggestthatthephysicianshoulddonoobstetricsforatleastamonth,andthreeprimafacieevidencethatheisthesourceofthecontagion."TheViennesephysicianIgnazPhilipSemmelweiss(1818-1862)providedproofofthecauseofpuerperalfever.­In1847heorderedhandwashinginchlorinatedwaterbeforedeliveringinfantsandthemortalityfro