Women can be fertile up to forty years, and in that
length of time many things can change.
These changes do affect a woman’s desire to get (or not) getting
pregnant. Emotional readiness,
population control, financial stability, social/cultural preferences, health/medical
well-being, and more are all reasons that affect a woman’s desire to carry a
pregnancy to term. The concern with preventing
pregnancy is a long standing one that has existed for centuries, and it has not
been until recently that pregnancy prevention has advanced to provide a safe
outcome. The failures of the past,
however, are what have led to the successes of the present, and today’s blog post
will discuss the past technologies for contraception.
 |
| Figure 1: A Sea Sponge Pessary |
One of the most common means of birth control is coitus
interruptus, or more popularly known as the withdrawal method. The earliest mention of this method is
attributed to several sources, including the Biblical Old Testament, the
Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, and Master Tung-H’suan of
ancient China. Despite its poor results
it continues to be advocated for today. The
Chinese and ancient Indians (of India) also advocated for a related technique
known as coitus obstructus, which is a technique where men would put pressure on
their testicles to stop sperm from entering the woman. The ancient Egyptians, however, recognized a
successful means of preventing pregnancy, which is the continuation of breast
feeding. This prevents ovulation and
reduces the likelihood of the mother becoming pregnant again.
Vaginal suppositories and pessaries, devices meant to
block the passage of sperm into the vagina, were also common in the past. These took various forms, ranging from
conservative to quite bizarre (by our modern standards). African women were known to use plugs of
chopped grass or cloth, Japanese women employed bamboo tissue paper, Middle
Eastern, Slavic, and Greek women stuck simply to cloth, while Jews in the past
utilized a sea sponge wrapped in silk (Figure 1). Meanwhile,
women in New Zealand women put rocks in their vaginal canal to prevent
pregnancy. More unconventional products
used as pessaries included a mixture of crocodile dung, honey, and sodium
carbonate (baking soda), which formed into a gum. This was quite popular among ancient
Egyptians. Ancient Romans utilized a
similar concoction, without the crocodile dung, when attempting to prevent
pregnancy. Pessaries eventually evolved
to mixtures utilizing a variety of other chemicals, including potassium carbonate,
ammonium chloride, coco butter, and quinine, some of which was used quite
recently in the historical record as a means of preventing pregnancy.
 |
| Figure 2: Linen Condoms were commonplace among ancient Egyptians |
Related to vaginal suppositories were condoms, which
were common throughout history but not in the incarnation that they are known
today. The earliest recorded incidence
of condom use was in 3000 BC and is associated with King Minos Crete who
utilized goat bladders as a means of preventing exposure to venereal diseases. Beginning at about 1000 BC ancient Egyptians
began employing linen as a means of protecting themselves from venereal diseases (Figure 2). Other sources claim that cave paintings and
other historical documents make mention of condoms, although the connection to preventing
pregnancy was not realized until recently.
Last but not least people believed that certain herbal
remedies could prevent pregnancy and even in some cases cause infertility. One of the most popular herbal remedies was
silphium, a fennel plant that was indigenous to modern day Libya. This plant was so highly promoted as having
contraceptive properties that it was eventually made extinct due to
overharvesting of the plant. After this
occurred, other herbal remedies were used, including rue, Artemisia, majoram,
parsley, thyme, lavender, worm fern, and Queen Anne’s lace (Figure 3). Dioscorides, a Roman physician, identified
the following, when consumed, would lead to women being unable to conceive:
white poplar and mule kidney, willow, asparagus, pepper, ivy, mint, and
axe-weed. Ancient Romans also believed that
a drink concocted of hare’s stomach would lead to infertility, as well as
wearing a cat’s liver would prevent conception.
 |
| Figure 3: Queen Anne's Lace was believed to be a plant that prevented pregnancy |
The lengths that people went to prevent pregnancy
demonstrate a long history of a desire to control birth outcomes. As ancient scholars rightly recognized at the
time preventing pregnancy was safer than abortions, which were common when
preventative methods failed. Today we
recognize the same exists today, but at least contraceptives used today, thanks
to medical advances, have become more reliable and safer.
Bibliography
Davidson, E.R.W.
2012. No Title. Hektoen International: A Journal of Medical
Humanities. http://www.hektoeninternational.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=211&Itemid=627
Dowsing, S.
1999. Contraception and Abortion in the Early Roman Empire: A Critical
Examination of Ancient Sources and Modern Interpretations. Master’s Thesis: University of Ottawa.
Evans, M.L. 2008. “A Desire to Control: Contraception Throughout the Ages.” Historia Medicinae. 1: 1-4.
London, K. 2016.
“The History of Birth Control.”
Yale-New Haven Teacher’s Institute.
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1982/6/82.06.03.x.html
