On June 23, 1960, the FDA approved the sale of Enovid for use as an oral contraceptive. It was manufactured by G.D.
The oral contraceptive pill was approved for distribution in Australia in 1961, upon the written prescription of a medical practitioner. Access was therefore under the control of doctors, and dependent on their attitudes, particularly with regard to prescribing for unmarried women.
1940s. One of the problems with involving doctors in contraception was that many women in the '30s and '40s either didn't have a family physician or didn't want to have a doctor examine them just to be prescribed a diaphragm, which was how they had to get it.
The contraceptive pill became available for unmarried women in the US in 1972. Abortion became legal in the US 1973 (it had been legal in the U.K since 1968) and gave women the legal right to safely choose to end their pregnancy. There was still a long way to go , but the equality train was crawling out of the station.
But in 1924, the year Season 5 begins, condoms were the most commonly prescribed method of birth control for men while women used pessaries – rudimentary rubber molds which would later evolve into cervical caps or the slightly larger barrier devices known as diaphragms.
The first condoms
The first documented use of a condom in Europe was in 1564 by the anatomist Fallopia (who also gave his name to fallopian tubes). In the 16th century condoms were used primarily to prevent STDs. Syphilis, for example, was often fatal and raged through Europe for over 300 years.
Manufacturing with rubber kicked off during the Industrial Revolution in America, and in 1839, Charles Goodyear invented rubber vulcanization. The first condoms made of rubber were made in 1855 and by the 1860s, rubber condoms were being mass produced.
The Oldest Methods
Around 1850 B.C. Egyptian women mixed acacia leaves with honey or used animal dung to make vaginal suppositories to prevent pregnancy. The Greeks in the 4th century B.C. used natural ointments made with olive and cedar oil as spermicides. A popular Roman writer advocated abstinence.
The earliest forms of birth control, as well as abortion, were found in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia as far back as 1850 BC. Papyrus scrolls were found to contain directions on how to make birth control, using honey, acacia leaves, and also lint as a form of cervical cap to prevent sperm from entering the womb.
By 1965, one out of every four married women in America under 45 had used the pill. By 1967, nearly 13 million women in the world were using it. And by 1984 that number would reach 50–80 million (Asbell, 1995). Today more than 100 million women use the pill (Christin-Maitre, 2013).
Our ancestors would try just about anything to prevent pregnancy, from animal poop and poisonous potions, to citrus fruits and wooden blocks. Before modern medicine gave us go-tos like the pill and patch, couples resorted to more unusual birth control methods.
The Ancient Romans used the bladders of animals to protect the woman; they were worn not to prevent pregnancy but to prevent contraction of venereal diseases. Charles Goodyear, the inventor, utilized vulcanization, the process of transforming rubber into malleable structures, to produce latex condoms.
Abstract. PIP: Examines the 10-year controversy surrounding Depo-Provera, the long acting injectable contraceptive. Although banned as a contraceptive in the US in 1978, Depo is endorsed by agencies such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the World Health Organization for use in the 3rd World.
The combined oral contraceptive pill (OCP), often just called 'the pill', prevents pregnancy. It can also help make periods lighter, less painful and more regular. Some doctors refer to it as the OCP. The pill is a form of contraception that you take as a tablet.
There are 2 types of oral contraception available in Australia – the combined pill, known as 'the pill', and the progestogen only pill. The pill contains the hormones oestrogen and progestogen. These are similar to hormones that are produced by the ovaries. The progestogen only pill contains only progestogen.
Barrier methods were always very popular. A halved, emptied lemon skin placed over the cervix worked well, for example, as did sponges soaked in natural spermicides such as vinegar.
In medieval western Europe, any efforts to halt or prevent pregnancy were deemed immoral by the Catholic Church. Women of the time still used a number of birth control measures such as coitus interruptus, inserting lily root and rue into the vagina, and infanticide after birth.
In an era long before chemical or hormonal contraceptive technology, Civil War-era Americans used the same methods known for centuries throughout the early modern world to prevent pregnancy. These, of course, included the ancient methods of coitus interruptus—or withdrawal, and the rhythm method.
Nineteenth Century
Scientists did not know enough about pregnancy to develop a reliable test. However, for sexually active women, the best method for diagnosing pregnancy remained careful observation of their own physical signs and symptoms (such as morning sickness).
And in the 18th century, Casanova fashioned a cervical cap from half a pulped lemon (perhaps to avoid responsibility for child support), and the combination of blockage and acidity made this a fairly effective method. On second thought, you might prefer an oral contraceptive.
Advice included placing honey, acacia leaves and lint in the vagina to block sperm, or putting a mix of pulverized crocodile dung and various bodily fluids on the vulva that would, apparently, prevent pregnancy for up to three years. Ancient Egyptian drawings also show the use of condoms.
Early condoms were fashioned of linen, sheep gut, or fish bladder, and used with ointments and medicinal solutions. In early 19th century America, condoms remained linked to the “sporting life” to prevent venereal disease. Coded names for condoms included baudruches, French letters, safes, armour, and machines.
Even as the number of contraceptive options expanded, contraceptives remained illegal until 1965, when the Supreme Court, in Griswold v. Connecticut, struck down the ban against contraceptives for married couples. It took seven more years for the Court to grant that unmarried people had the same right.
The late 18th century saw the establishment of two shops in London devoted entirely to the sale of condoms. Made out of sheep guts, these condoms were carefully soaked for a couple of hours before use, to make them pliable and easy to put on.