Abstract
Christian Gerhard Leopold was one of the most important gynecologists and obstetricians at the end of the 19th century. He is mainly remembered for the eponymous Leopold's grips (Leopold-Handgriffe) which are used to determine the position of the fetus within the uterus.
He was a student of Carl Siegmund Franz Credé, taught midwifery at the Frauenklinik in Leipzig, and was appointed as an associate professor at Leipzig University in 1883. Afterwards, he succeeded Franz von Winckel as the director of the Royal Gynecological Infirmary in Dresden.
In the journal Archiv für Gynäkologie he published the four classic Leopold's grips. A third grip or maneuver known as Pawlik's grip is still used by obstetricians today, though some, especially abroad, favored and recommended the two-handed approach.
Leopold himself oriented strictly on the external investigation of the pregnant to reduce the danger of infection. His main domain was the prevention of the puerperal fever.