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Andre Levret
Andre Levret was born in Paris in 1703 - Fortunately he developed a relationship with a wealthy patron which allowed him economically to follow his chief medical interest, obstetrics. In a short time his reputation spread and pupils came to him from all of Europe. He was interested in Surgery as well, and was elected a member of the Royal academy of Surgery of Paris.
His chief contribution of which there were many, was the introduction of the pelvic or maternal curve of the forceps blades, which he announced to the Academy of Sciences on January 7, 1747. There is controversy among medical historians about the priority for the addition of the pelvic curve to the forceps, rival claimants being Smellie (he did not seem very concerned about priority) Benjamin Pugh of Chelmsford in Essex who claimed to have been using them before 1740. It has been suggested that Smellie and Levret were bitter rivals, but this does not seem born out, as indicated by Evidence in their own writings, Smellie had a copy of Levrets first book in his library, and Levret offered praise of Smellie's forceps. He also, thought that the addition of his curves to Smellie's forceps would produce and instrument superior to all others.
Regardless of the priority, Levret was able to be sued successfully in face and breech presentations. If not bitter rivals, Smellie and Levret did differ on many issues. Levret believed in Cesarian sections, and his indications would be acceptable today, Smellie's not.
Smellie in opposition to Levret thought that the transverse diamer of the superior strait was the greatest. Levret invented a Crochet for extracting Moles- he believed that the pelvic cartilages underwent a certain softening during pregnancy and he called attention to the narrowing of the pelvis as a result of rickets. His book "L'art des Accouchements" earned him the honor of being called the founder of Rational operative obstetrics. His remarks on extra-uterine pregnancy, changes in the uterus during pregnancy and his treatment of uterine polyps marked a great advance. He was the first to show that retention of the placenta after delivery was due to irregularities in uterine contractions rather than malformation of the organ. His work on pelvic inclination is regarded as fundamental. He is considered by many to be secondary only to Smellie.
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