Saga - 2018, Qupperneq 123

hraðar á Íslandi en í Noregi. Engin kona hefur dáið af barnsfarasótt
á Íslandi frá árinu 1975. Í Noregi hafa þrjár konur dáið af barnsfara-
sótt frá því á níunda áratug tuttugustu aldar. Sú hætta er alltaf fyrir
hendi að konur geti fengið sýkingu í leg eftir barnsburð ef óvarlega
er farið og ekki gætt fyllsta hreinlætis. Ómeðhöndluð sýking í legi í
sængurlegu getur í dag valdið alvarlegu sjúkdómsástandi hjá konu.
Abstract
erla dóris halldórsdóttir
CHILDBED FEVER IN NINETEENTH CENTURy ICELAND
No woman in Iceland has died from childbed fever during the last 43 years. Thus
it is safe to say that deaths from childbed fever have been eliminated in Iceland,
though this is by no means the case in every country, as childbed fever remains
the world’s third most common cause of maternal mortality. Moreover, untreated
post-delivery uterine infections may result in serious illnesses, both in Iceland and
elsewhere.
Before the advent of antibiotics, and as late as the 1930s, post-partum mothers
around the globe faced the risk of a uterine infection which might lead to death.
The treatments till that time were in fact of no avail: they merely attempted to
reduce swelling in the woman’s body, either by letting blood — which might be
effected through leeches that sucked out blood — or by applying rectal enemas,
cantharide plasters to both groins, or mercury ointment to the abdomen.
Childbed fever, also known as puerperal fever, is defined as a post-partum
septic infection that causes a high fever, occurs from the first 24 hours through the
next three weeks after birth, and is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes.
These bacteria, which were discovered by Louis Pasteur in 1879, normally live on
human skin. However, they may cause infections in bodily wounds, as well as in
joints, bones and respiratory organs. Even on the skin, S. pyogenes can lead to
erysipelas by gaining entrance to the body through surface wounds. If the bacteria
enter the birth canal post-partum, they may spread from there into the uterine
wall and continue into the fallopian tubes, the peritoneum, or tissues surrounding
the uterus. Unless antibiotics are used, such an infection may lead to the woman’s
death within only a few days. The bacteria manage to enter the birth canal via
soiled hands or unclean medical devices used for delivery. It was not until the
twentieth century that such devices were washed in special disinfectants, or that
those assisting during labour washed their hands in disinfectant before touching
the woman. When antibiotics were finally used for childbed fever, starting in
1938, deaths due to the disease were significantly reduced in Iceland as well as
Norway. Increased hygiene near women giving birth also reduced the number of
infections, with women today still being advised to exercise extreme hygiene fol-
lowing birth, due to this particular bacteria.
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