Eduard Lumpe (1813–1876)[1]
was an
obstetrician working in
Vienna General Hospital as assistant to professor
Johann Klein. He is mainly known for compiling a list of causes for
childbed fever in 1845, reflecting the (in retrospect: limited) insights at the time. The disease was predominantly epidemic, i.e. due to
miasmatic influences. Other causal factors included: general deprivation, worry, shame, attempted abortion, fear of death, dietary disorders, exposure to cold, local miasmas and difficult delivery.[2]Ignaz Semmelweis ridiculed Lumpe's work.
Lumpe's work reflected mainstream views, see for instance the work of
Charles Delucena Meigs[3] for a similar American account in 1854.