On taking up his post as assistant to a professor at the First Maternity Clinic of Vienna’s General Hospital in 1846, Semmelweis faced an appalling reality ​ — more than 13 percent of the women giving birth there died from a disease called childbed fever.
1846. aastal asus ta Viini üldhaigla esimeses sünnistuskliinikus tööle professori assistendina. Seal töötades sattus Semmelweis silmitsi kohutava reaalsusega: rohkem kui 13 protsenti seal sünnitanud naistest suri niinimetatud lapsevoodipalavikku.