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Erich Saling – The Father of Prenatal and Perinatal Medicine—Dedication to his 90th birthday

  • Joachim W. Dudenhausen
Published/Copyright: July 4, 2015

The title of the book for which Erich Saling is best known is “Das Kind im Bereich der Geburtshilfe”. Translated word for word into English it is called “The Child in the Field of Obstetrics”. Saling’s choice of this particular name reflects the leitmotif underlying his life as a doctor and a scientist, making the world of the unborn child accessible to scientific research.

After having studied medicine in Jena and Berlin and receiving his doctoral degree from the Free University of Berlin, Erich Saling pursued further professional training as a gynecologist from 1952 to 1958 at Städtische Frauenklinik Berlin- Neukölln. In 1963, he presented his post-doctoral thesis on “The Ratios of Blood Gas and the Acid-Base Balance of a Fetus in the Course of an Unimpaired Birth”. Saling then went on to become an adjunct professor at the Free University of Berlin in 1968. In 1979 he was appointed as head of the newly formed Department of Obstetrics at the Frauenklinik Neukoelln, and became a full professor in perinatal medicine at the Free University of Berlin in the same year. After 38 years he retired from clinical practice in late 1990, but he remained an important voice in the field.

Saling’s scientific interest initially focused on the diagnosis and treatment of the depressed neonate. He published his first works on the subject in 1958 and 1959 and these publications remained some of the most citied in the field. In 60 years of scientific work that followed, this leitmotif essentially remained the same: the diagnosis of intrauterine oxygen deficiency and its consequences; avoidance of preterm deliveries and growth-restriction; and management of breech presentation. However, what makes his contribution to science so exceptional is not the multitude of ideas that Saling pursued, but was his discovery of the unborn child. Amongst his greatest ideas was that of taking a blood sample from the fetus during birth. This procedure, which is referred to as the “Saling Technique,” offered new opportunities for the analysis of physiological and patho-physiological factors. This was a major milestone in the progress of obstetrics and revolutionized the field of perinatal medicine. Through his work in gaining scientific access to the unborn child, Saling played a strong part in turning the midwifery of old into the obstetrics we know today. While he was not alone in this effort, the work he did was seminal for prenatal and perinatal medicine and determined the course of modern obstetrics.

When the German Society of Perinatal Medicine was founded, along with its subsidiary societies all over the world, pediatricians were invited to cooperate in scientific discourse of great interest to their childhood patients. This collaboration was continued with the foundation of the Journal of Perinatal Medicine and is now being practiced globally with focus on improving perinatal outcomes. The last 40−50 years have seen the founding of many national and international societies of perinatal medicine based on these principles, including the International Academy of Perinatal Medicine (IAPM), which was formed in 2005. IAPM is an independent, non-profit institution with 30 permanent fellows from all over the world and owes its existence to the preparatory work done by the World Association for Perinatal Medicine, The International Society of the Fetus as a Patient, and the European Association of Perinatal Medicine. Its purpose is to serve as a forum for the assessment and discussion of worldwide perinatal medicine. Erich Saling serves as the president of the board of directors and it is his wish to draw up guidelines focusing on practical topics, while also intensifying and broadening the academic discussions of ethics and the impact of globalization on perinatal medicine.

Erich Saling’s life is a series of successes. He has been honored and recognized by many. Scientific prizes, courses, and medical schools have been named for him. I have had the privilege and honor to work with Erich Saling as a resident, as a consultant, and as his deputy director. I have many things in my life to thank him for. To this day, our regular exchanges and discussions bear witness to the instruction I received from him at the start, and to our later cooperation. Thank you.

Published Online: 2015-7-4
Published in Print: 2015-7-1

©2015 by De Gruyter

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Erich Saling – The Father of Prenatal and Perinatal Medicine—Dedication to his 90th birthday
  4. Original articles - Obstetrics
  5. A transcervical amniotic fluid collector: a new medical device for the assessment of amniotic fluid in patients with ruptured membranes
  6. Advanced cervical dilatation and spontaneous preterm labor: a comparison between twin and singleton gestations
  7. Comparison of a novel test for placental alpha microglobulin-1 with fetal fibronectin and cervical length measurement for the prediction of imminent spontaneous preterm delivery in patients with threatened preterm labor
  8. Does recent sexual intercourse during pregnancy affect the results of the fetal fibronectin rapid test? A comparative prospective study
  9. Usefulness of maternal serum C-reactive protein with vaginal Ureaplasma urealyticum as a marker for prediction of imminent preterm delivery and chorioamnionitis in patients with preterm labor or preterm premature rupture of membranes
  10. Effect of blood on ROM diagnosis accuracy of PAMG-1 and IGFBP-1 detecting rapid tests
  11. Single versus combination tocolytic regimen in the prevention of preterm births in women: a prospective cohort study
  12. Recommendations of activity restriction in high-risk pregnancy scenarios: a Danish national survey
  13. Is pharmacologic research on pregnant women with psychoses ethically permissible?
  14. Women’s knowledge and attitude towards pregnancy in a high-income developing country
  15. Impact of maternal body mass index on the cesarean delivery rate in Germany from 1990 to 2012
  16. Justified skepticism about Apgar scoring in out-of-hospital birth settings
  17. The effect of the use of oxytocin on blood loss during different postpartum periods
  18. Original articles - Fetus
  19. The T/QRS ratio values in pregnancies complicated by threatened preterm labour treated with intravenous infusions of fenoterol
  20. Cardiotocography patterns and risk of intrapartum fetal acidemia
  21. Combined spinal epidural analgesia for labor using sufentanil epidurally versus intrathecally: a retrospective study on the influence on fetal heart trace
  22. Original articles - Newborn
  23. Predicting fetal growth deviation in parous women: combining the birth weight of the previous pregnancy and third trimester ultrasound scan
  24. Letter to the Editor
  25. A cerclage is not a modified total cervical occlusion!
  26. Letter Reply
  27. Reply to: a cerclage is not a modified Total Cervical Occlusion!
  28. Congress Calendar
  29. Congress Calendar
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