The Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades in Paris (149 Rue de Sèvres) is the direct offspring of the oldest children's hospital in the world. In 1802 the old hospice for abandoned children called Maison Royale de l'Enfant Jesus was transformed by decree into a hospital for sick children (Enfants Malades): "149 boys and 92 girls aged from 2 to 14 years old were housed in separate wings, each containing 30 to 40 beds, according to their ages, pathologies and sex"1. The hospital for children was finally merged with the nearby Necker Hospital for adults on 1st January 1927, giving origin to the hospital group Necker-Enfants Malades2. During the 19th and 20th centuries the Necker-Enfants Malades has always remained one of the world's leading institutions in the development of pediatrics specialties.
Surely, a milestone in the history of this hospital was, in 1816, the invention of the stethoscope by René Laennec to whom recently has been dedicated the brand new mother-child medical-surgical building, which replaced some of the old pavilions of the hospital. On the external wall of one of these old pavilion there was a marble tablet remembering Laennec and his invention: now the memorial tablet has been moved inside the Information Office you can find on your left just entered the hospital through the historical gate of Rue de Sèvres.
- Photos by Luca Borghi ti.supmacinu|ihgrob.l#| (July 2014)
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Bibliography
- Philippe Gazeau, Groupe hospitalier Necker Enfants Malades, AAM, Bruxelles 2006, pp. 127