User:LeoMilieu/Emile Papiernik

Emile Papiernik was a prominent French obstetrician. He was born on February 14, 1936 in Paris and died on August 8th, 2009 in Sceaux, France.

Youth and Training He was the son of Polish Jewish migrants who entered France illegally one year before his birth. His father, a tailor, was deported and died in Auschwitz. Emile himself had to wear the yellow star, but was saved by a family that managed to hide him.

Medical Career After completing his medical studies he started his internship at the Gustave-Roussy Institute in Villejuif, with a view to specialize in Oncology. However, soon afterwards he changed direction and decided to opt for Obstetrics and Gynecology instead.

By 1966 he was already assistant Clinical Chief of the Maternity Department of Port Royal in Paris. He developed a keen interest in the problem of preterm delivery. In 1969 he developed a formal method for determining the risk of preterm delivery for any individual. He found that shortening and opening of the cervix are good predictors of impending preterm delivery.

He was an advocate for the reduction of excessive physical work from early on in the pregnancy, especially if other risk factors were present. He also believed in extending the duration of maternity leave. He pioneered the concept of prenatal transfer of high-risk pregnancies to tertiary units in order to improve neonatal care. His ideas were incorporated in the National Prevention Program in France in 1972, and this was effective in significantly reducing the rate of preterm births.

In 1972, at the age of 36, he became head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Antoine-Beclere Hospital in Clamart. Here he introduced the use of an ultrasound scanner, against the advice of the hospital administration. He opened one of the very first services for the voluntary termination of pregnancy after the referendum on the Veil law of 1975. It was in this hospital that the first French test-tube baby (Amandine) was born in 1982.

Awards Emile Papiernik was Professor Emeritus at the University of Paris Descartes, an honorary Member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and of the American Academy of Pediatrics. In 1983 he was named Knight of the Legion of Honor.

Further Reading

1. Emile Papiernik. https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/98B7FC3C8FF60C4F8AFA23005C212AA1/S1832427400010355a.pdf/div-class-title-emile-papiernik-1936-2009-div.pdf

2. Emile Papiernik's Research Works. https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Emile-Papiernik-2082190476

3. Prevention of Spontaneous Preterm Births. https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/uog.5174