Alfred Dührssen was a German gynecologist and obstetrician born in Heide

Heide

Heide is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the Kreis Dithmarschen. Population: 21,000.The German word Heide means "heath". In the 15th century four adjoining villages decided to build a church in the "middle of the heath". This remained the town's name to date...

, Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

.

He studied medicine at the University of Marburg, as well as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Akademie für das militärärztliche Bildungswesen (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Academy for Military Physicians). In 1886 he became an obstetrical assistant to Adolf Gusserow

Adolf Gusserow

Adolf Ludwig Sigismund Gusserow was a German gynecologist who was a native of Berlin. He married Clara Oppenheim , a descendant of Berlin banker Joseph Mendelssohn....

 (1836-1906) in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, and in 1888 he began work as a lecturer at the University of Berlin. In 1892 he opened a private clinic for obstetrics

Obstetrics

Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...

 and gynecological diseases.

Dührssen was a prominent figure in modern German gyncecology, and is remembered for his pioneer work in surgical

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

 practices such as vaginal Caesarean section

Caesarean section

A Caesarean section, is a surgical procedure in which one or more incisions are made through a mother's abdomen and uterus to deliver one or more babies, or, rarely, to remove a dead fetus...

 (vaginalen Kaiserschnitt). He was an advocate of institutional births for all pregnancies, and proposed that pregnant women undergo screening processes to uncover possible difficulties prior to giving birth.

Associated eponym

• Dührssen incisions: Incisions made in the cervix
  Cervix
  The cervix is the lower, narrow portion of the uterus where it joins with the top end of the vagina. It is cylindrical or conical in shape and protrudes through the upper anterior vaginal wall...
  
   as a means of effecting immediate delivery of the fetus
  Fetus
  A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
  
  .

Selected writings

• Geburtshülfliches Vedemecum für Studierende und Ärzte (Gynecological Handbook for Students and Doctors); (1890).
• Über Heilung und Verhütung von Frauenkrankheiten (Treatment and Prevention of Diseases relating to Women); (1900).
• Die neue Geburtshilfe (Modern Obstetrics); (1923).