Singultus foetalis and Dr. Alfons Mermann

During intrauterine life, hiccups are universally present, their incidence peaking in the third trimester. Alfons Mermann (1852-1908), a gynecologist from Mannheim, Germany, best known for having established the Luisenheim Woechnerinnenasyl [lying-in asylum] there in 1887, is viewed as the first physician to name and describe singultus foetalis [fetal hiccups] in a modern peer-reviewed scientific publication. This short report attempts to shed some light on the work of Dr. Mermann and to explore whether or not he was indeed the first to recognize this phenomenon.