The course of history is never one of smooth progression. Periods of relative quietness are interrupted by periods of wars and revolution. This pattern resembles that of a river which, before flowing into the delta, has to pass countless rapids. The same holds for the development of the science of medicine. In obstetrics some of these 'revolutions' or 'rapids' consist of the introduction of conservative obstetrical treatment by Lucas Johann Boer at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the discovery of the cause of puerperal sepsis by Oliver Wendell Holmes and Semmelweiss between 1843 and...