How Semmelweis's 1847 handwashing rule slashed childbirth deaths despite medical resistance

In 1847, Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis introduced mandatory handwashing with chlorine solution in hospital wards, cutting maternal mortality rates by nearly 90%. His intervention dramatically reduced deaths from puerperal fever among new mothers. Despite the compelling results, the medical establishment largely rejected his findings because he could not offer a scientific explanation for why the practice worked. Semmelweis faced significant professional opposition and ridicule from his contemporaries throughout his career. His methods were only vindicated years later when Louis Pasteur's germ theory provided the biological basis for his observations, cementing handwashing as a cornerstone of modern medical hygiene.