According to the data, the ancient Greeks knew the difference between "contraception" and "abortion" thousands of years ago, which should make many modern people feel ashamed-there are indeed many modern people who don't know how to use contraception in advance and can only have an abortion afterwards.
In 42 1 year BC, when Aristotle mentioned using mint plants for contraception, Hippocrates (460-377 BC) realized that wild carrot seeds could be used for contraception. It is said that the giant fennel, as an expensive but effective contraceptive method, attracted so many people that by the end of the 3rd century BC, the plant was even extinct.
The use of natural plant contraception seems to be so effective in the Mediterranean region that in the 2nd century BC, Ribis wrote that each Greek family only controlled one or two children. Almost at the same time, Solas, an ancient gynecologist in Ephesus, also listed 10 kinds of plants widely used for contraception, 8 of which were later proved to have hormonal effects.
The oldest contraceptive method in the world may have been invented and used by ancient Egyptians 4000 years ago. It is a cone made of pomegranate seeds and wax. Pomegranate seeds contain natural estrogen, which can completely inhibit ovulation like contraceptives. Although it is not as effective as the current pills, it can really inhibit pregnancy. In addition to the method of inhibiting ovulation, the application of "barrier method" also has a far-reaching history.
The "obstacle law" is enduring. 4000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians used papyrus, honey, alkali and crocodile dung to make suppositories, which were placed in the cervix and vagina for contraception, creating a precedent for barrier contraception.
The most interesting thing is a historical anecdote: a German-Egyptian archaeologist named George Ebers discovered a contraceptive prescription written on papyrus, which is considered to be the first professional prescription to maintain "family planning" in the world. As a result, historians gathered together and found that hieroglyphics meant "crocodile dung", which is what the prescription refers to.
Show women to smear this thing in the vagina before sexual intercourse. Crocodiles are too difficult to raise. This method is obviously not popular enough.
In the Middle Ages, condoms had a history of nearly a hundred years before 1600, but they were not written into official documents. These early folk condoms used a variety of materials, from sheep viscera and fish skin to flax and animal skin. The Japanese even have outstanding technology, and they can make this effective tool with turtle shells. Ancient prostitutes in China and Japan used oily bamboo clothes as a cervical barrier to avoid giving birth. Although barrier contraception was popular among European aristocrats in the17th century, it was not widely used in the population until the development of rubber industry in 100.
1844, latex condoms finally came out.
However, in 1950s, due to the rapid development of a series of efficient and simple contraceptive methods such as intrauterine devices and hormonal contraceptives, barrier contraception was once "neglected". In the past 20 years, sexually transmitted diseases, especially AIDS, have been rampant. Because barrier contraception prevents sperm from meeting eggs and avoids the contact between male and female reproductive organs and their secretions, the pathogenic microorganisms of sexually transmitted diseases can be isolated accordingly. Because of its dual functions of contraception and partial prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, it has been favored by the world and developed.
So the principle of contraception has not changed much for thousands of years. The advanced nature of modern times is manifested in the use method, efficiency and minimal harm to the body.
In the history of modern contraception, there are two important stages, the early stage is the 1920s-40s, and the late stage is the 1960s.
In the 1920s, many important events happened, such as Henry Ford's mass production of automobiles, the financial crisis on Wall Street and the global economic depression. Stalin actively carried out his five-year plan. During the world war, people paid more and more attention to how to protect and develop the health of women and children. That is to say, in 192 1, Ludwig Haberlandt (1885
~ 1932) confirmed that the existence and occurrence of menstruation are controlled by sex hormones produced jointly by the brain and ovary. Based on this principle change, decades later, the first contraceptive was born.
From 1929 to the mid-1930s, most parts of the world were suffering from economic crisis. Faced with the heavy burden of large families, women demand to strengthen their self-protection ability. 1933, Proluton of Schering Company was listed, which was the first biological progestogen in history. Therefore, 1934 marks the beginning of modern hormone therapy. In Xianling Laboratory, chemists Schwenk and Hildebrand developed synthetic estrogens.
From 65438 to 0938, the independence and separation of sex and reproduction became a long and arduous struggle. At the same time, charming Hollywood beckons to every woman, and the new female image shows a completely different world-beauty, passion and work! Hollywood is such a myth: Marilyn Monroe, the sexy goddess, calls for the dreams of men and women, but claims that three marriages can't let her know what orgasm is.
In the 1940s, Russell Mark, an American chemist, believed that steroids extracted from plant roots could be synthesized into synthetic sex hormones. He found that wild sweet potato, Dioscorea nipponica, can produce natural progesterone in Mexico. The competition among scientists prompted the emergence of the first oral contraceptive. 1944, German scientists Bickenbach and Paulikovics studied the method of inhibiting ovulation with progesterone.
1950, Margaret Sanger, the founder of the American Planned Parenthood Association at the age of 7/kloc-0, met with gregory pincus, a biologist, and offered $50,000 (it is also said that Margaret herself did not offer this huge grant, but another woman) to support his research work. Pincus developed and tested hormonal contraception for the first time. The world began to move slowly on this fulcrum. 195 1 year, born in 1923, Professor Carl Djerassi, a famous scientist, played a key role in the history of contraceptives because of his synthesis of cortisone (glucocorticoid) and other achievements. 195 1 year, he synthesized the first synthetic progesterone norethindrone, which was the key component of the first oral contraceptive. 1956, gregory pincus and his colleague Dr. Minju Jang and John Rock, a gynecologist at Harvard University, conducted the first long-term clinical trial among 60,000 women in Puerto Rico and Haiti. Estrogen and progesterone are made into low-dose pills. Obviously, they can prevent pregnancy.
Then came another important period: in the 1960s, contraception and women's rights fought for status and were widely promoted. The sixties were colorful. The Beatles ended Beethoven's era. The slogan "love, not war" is popular in miniskirts. Both East Germany and the United States introduced the first contraceptive pill. For the first time in history, women in most countries can control their fertility and choose when to become mothers. In the life of the poor, it was luck to have children, and the infant mortality rate was high. But among the middle class and the rich, knowledge about fertility began to spread through word of mouth. Therefore, the contraceptive pill is a popular female revolution.
1960, American company Searle introduced Enovid, which is the first contraceptive pill approved for marketing in the world. In the next two years, American women found that they could enjoy sex itself without worrying about pregnancy. This will inevitably attract the attention of male groups. 14 years,100000 American women took birth control pills. The debate about extramarital affairs and sex began to explode.
196 1 year, the Berlin wall divided Germany into two halves. Yuri gagarin, an astronaut from the former Soviet Union, hovered beyond the earth. Schering Company of Germany went public in Australia and Germany-the first birth control pill in Europe was born. Forty years later, 200 famous historians realized that the influence of birth control pills was even greater than Einstein's theory of relativity and the atomic bomb.
The controversy caused by birth control pills has not subsided in Europe. Doctors only prescribe contraceptives to married women for "menstrual problems". 1June, 968, Konbret magazine published a list with the names and addresses of doctors who can provide contraceptive services for single women, which can be said to have rushed out of the layers of encirclement. Birth control pills began to become a symbol of women's independence. The concept of "freedom of choice" was born. By the 1970s, birth control pills no longer caused much controversy. More than 50 million women around the world take birth control pills.
In this short half century, modern contraceptive methods strive to make women completely control their fertility in all aspects, which is equivalent to controlling their gender, work, reputation, and even their body and skin.
However, at this rate of development, the abortion rate is still painfully high. Especially for young girls who have just started sex, many of them learn to mend their ways through pain. But our body and uterus are just one. Mother gave us enough eggs, but only one uterus.