A Brief History of Contraceptives

Through the centuries, women and men have been searching for the ultimate contraceptive. Many different methods have been tried and many have failed. Some have been painful or comfortable and others ineffective and others effective. Either way different methods have been past down from generation. In the paragraphs below histories of various methods of contraceptives will be discussed.

The first method is the natural method. In the past, women used to nurse their children for two or three years. This would suppress ovulation protecting them from pregnancy. Another natural method is coitus reservatus or withholding ejaculation. This meant that the male would not ejaculate in the female, but hold the ejaculation back. Another effective natural method is coitus interruptus or withdrawing before ejaculation. The process of coitus interruptus involves the male withdrawing the penis from the female before ejaculation occurs. Most of these methods were effective yet dangerous.

The rhythm method is basically abstaining from intercourse during ovulation. The Greek gynecologist Soranus, in the second century AD, was correct when he said that women were fertile during ovulation, but wrong when he said that ovulation occurred during menstruation. Researchers were not able to determine which days were safe until 1930. Because of the lack of knowledge in the area of contraceptives, most women had to rely on various potions and rituals.

Olive oil, pomegranate pulp, ginger, tobacco juice were frequently smeared on or around the vagina. Many times the only effect these contraceptives had was that they killed or slowed the sperm down before reaching the egg. Still other women used mixtures of crocodile dung along with honey or gums from various trees. They would insert these mixtures prior to intercourse.

The history of oral contraceptives is as bizarre as the mixtures. Many oral contraceptives were drinks containing oils, fruits, grains, and other vegetable matter. Soranus suggested drinking the water that the blacksmiths used to cool hot metals. Other oral contraceptives included urine and animal parts along with mercury, arsenic, or strychnine.

Certain methods involved a jerking motion with the intent of rerouting or dislodging the sperm. Soranus suggested that Greek women jump backward seven times after intercourse. Women of Europe were encouraged to turn the wheel of a grain mill backwards four times at midnight.

Douches also were used as birth control. French prostitutes had been using syringes to douche since 1600. This was seldom an effect method of contraceptive unless the douche was acidic.

In the past, barriers were the most effective. A barrier prevents the sperm from getting to the egg. Sea sponges made of soft wool were soaked in vinegar or lemon juice to create a spermicide. Sometimes half of a lemon was stuck in the vagina. Still other times a large wooden block was placed in the vagina but this was uncomfortable and deemed a device of torture. Oriental women used oiled paper "capping the cervix" was effective while European women used beeswax.

Historians attribute the intrauterine devices (IUDs) to the Arabs. They would stick pebbles into the uteruses of their camels to prevent them from getting pregnant on long trips across the desert or to market. What the IUD does is create a mild infection in the uterus that prevents the fertilization and implantation of eggs.

Before the IUDs were the pessaries that were placed in vagina with a portion penetrating the cervix to enter the uterus. German gynecologist Grafenberg developed one from gut and silver wire in 1920. In 1965, women wore polyethylene pessaries but the woman had to be pregnant once before she could wear one. Then in the 1970s, copper pessaries were popular because any women could wear one.

The females are not the only ones with a form of contraceptive. The male can use a condom, a small covering used to cover the penis and catch the sperm as it ejaculates. In folklore, "Dr. Condom" invented a condom for King Charles II in the 17th century, but in reality there was not any "Dr. Condom." In actuality, Egyptians wore condoms made out of fabric not as a contraceptive but as protection from insect bites. A man named Charles Goodyear developed the first rubber condom in the 19th century. In the early 1990s, a condom for women was invented. But instead of fitting a penis it fits inside the female.

The most recent addition to the list of contraceptives is female sterilization, which through the process of surgery the Fallopian tubes are blocked or cut. The women still ovulate but the egg never makes it through the Fallopian tubes. It is the most widely used method of contraception today.

Back to the Contraceptives Main Page