Carl Siegmund Franz Credé

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Carl Siegmund Franz Credé (December 23, 1819 - March 14, 1892) was a German gynecologist and obstetrician who was a native of Berlin. 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 maternity division at the Berlin Charité. Later he was appointed professor of obstetrics and director of the maternity hospital in Leipzig. In Berlin and Leipzig, Credé established out-patient gynecology clinics. Credé was father-in-law to gynecologist Christian Gerhard Leopold (1846-1912).

Carl Credé is famous for introducing the use of silver nitrate eyedrops as an antiseptic for the prevention of ophthalmia neonatorum 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 placenta during the third stage of labor. With Dr. Leopold, he co-authored Clinical Lectures on Midwifery, which was later translated into English.