File:Roberto Caldeyro-Barcia and his machine.jpg

Sumario
Roberto Caldeyro Barcia was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, on September 26, 1921. He died on November 2, 1996.

Uruguay has played a key role in the development of Perinatal Medicine, thanks in part to the major contributions in the field started by Prof. Roberto Caldeyro-Barcia and Hermógenes Alvarez.

It was Prof. Caldeyro-Barcia and Dr. Hermógenes Alvarez who established a tracing system to monitor intrauterine amniotic pressure, which made it possible to analyze and define uterus contractility during pregnancy and childbirth, measuring the intensity and frequency of contractions and the uterine tone. This research led to the worldwide use of "Montevideo Units" to quantify uterine activity. Caldeyro-Barcia and Dr. Hermógenes Alvarez also developed a method to measure the effect of the uterine contractions on fetal heart rate, which would later become the basis of fetal monitoring, commonly used globally to monitor the fetus's response to contractions during labour and to prevent any neurological damage resulting from a lack of oxygen.

In 1970, the Pan American Health Organization created the first Latin American Center of Perinatology (CLAP) in Montevideo, appointing Prof. Caldeyro-Barcia as its director. This became a training and reference center for professionals in Latin America and elsewhere, since it provided training to doctors from the United States, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, as well as a vast number of Latin Americans, many of whom are today faculty members in their countries of origin.

The World Association for Perinatal Medicine was created in Tokyo in 1991, during the first world congress of this specialty, having Dr. Caldeyro-Barcia as one of its founders and main supporters.

Twenty years after this first meeting, Uruguay will host the 10th WORLD CONGRESS OF PERINATAL MEDICINE, when specialists will gather where it all started!