puerperal fever

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. a systemic bacterial infection of the endometrium characterized by fever, rapid heartbeat, uterine tenderness, and malodorous discharge, chiefly occurring in women after childbirth, usually as the result of unsterile obstetric procedures.

---

puerperal fever British  

noun

1. a serious, formerly widespread, form of blood poisoning caused by infection contracted during childbirth

---

Etymology

Origin of puerperal fever

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

Semmelweis, once described as a “savior of mothers,” discovered that cases of puerperal fever could be significantly cut by washing hands before surgery.

From New York Times • Jul. 25, 2018

Tolstoy’s wife Sofia almost died when she contracted puerperal fever after her fifth delivery, but he impregnated her again and again.

From Slate • Apr. 28, 2016

In 1935, after trying 1,161 sulfonamide compounds, Dr. Fourneau finally found the formula which conquered the streptococci of puerperal fever and meningitis.

From Time Magazine Archive

And Van Wyck Brooks praised old Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes's book on puerperal fever by saying that it had probably saved as many human lives as Bowditch's book.

From Time Magazine Archive

In a word, puerperal fever was according to Semmelweis no new specific disease, but a variety of py�mia.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various