Contraception (Birth Control), and Family Planning (Category Home Page)

PubHealth.info® (a subsidiary of PakMed) presents scientific information mainly based on abstracts of articles published on a variety of public health issues/topics, particularly encompassing population planning, disease prevention, maternal and child health, and communicable and non-communicable diseases (like HIV AIDS, malaria, etc) that are affecting a significant portion of population in developing and developed countries. Here you can find abstracts of articles published on a variety of public health topics under category "Contraception (Birth Control) and Family Planning". Contraception (birth control) is a regimen of one or more actions, devices, or medications followed in order to deliberately prevent or reduce the likelihood of a woman becoming pregnant or giving birth. Therefore contraception is the utilization of various and sundry surgical procedures, devices, practices, agents, or drugs with the intention of preventing conception or impregnation (pregnancy). Methods and intentions typically termed birth control may be considered a pivotal ingredient to family planning. Birth control is a controversial political and ethical issue in many cultures and religions, and although it is generally less controversial than abortion specifically.

Here you can find more than 42,000 article titles on "Contraception (Birth Control) and Family Planning" , along with their abstracts and bibliographic information (one of the world's largest collections of article titles on this topic), mentioned in various lists that are sorted/arranged according to the years of publication. To view lists of article titles in category "Contraception (Birth Control) and Family Planning", please select a list from the following dropdown list of article titles.

Probably the oldest methods of contraception (aside from sexual abstinence) are coitus interruptus, certain barrier methods, and herbal methods (emmenagogues and abortifacients).

Coitus interruptus (withdrawal of the penis from the vagina prior to ejaculation) probably predates any other form of birth control. Once the relationship between the emission of semen into the vagina and pregnancy was known or suspected, some men began to use this technique. This is not a particularly reliable method of contraception, as few men have the self-control to correctly practice the method at every single act of intercourse. Although it is commonly believed that pre-ejaculate fluid can cause pregnancy, modern research has shown that pre-ejaculate fluid does not contain viable sperm.

There are historic records of Egyptian women using a pessary (a vaginal suppository) made of various acidic substances (crocodile dung is alleged) and lubricated with honey or oil, which may have been somewhat effective at killing sperm. However, it is important to note that the sperm cell was not discovered until Anton van Leeuwenhoek invented the microscope in the late seventeenth century, so barrier methods employed prior to that time could not know of the details of conception. Asian women may have used oiled paper as a cervical cap, and Europeans may have used beeswax for this purpose. The condom appeared sometime in the seventeenth century, initially made of a length of animal intestine. It was not particularly popular, nor as effective as modern latex condoms, but was employed both as a means of contraception and in the hopes of avoiding syphilis, which was greatly feared and devastating prior to the discovery of antibiotic drugs.

Various abortifacients have been used throughout human history, although many do not associate induced abortion with the term 'birth control'. Some of them were effective, some were not; those that were most effective also had major side effects. One abortifacient reported to have low levels of side effects—silphium—was harvested to extinction around the 1st century. The ingestion of certain poisons by the female can disrupt the reproductive system; women have drunk solutions containing mercury, arsenic, or other toxic substances for this purpose. The Greek gynaecologist Soranus in the 2nd century suggested that women drink water that blacksmiths had used to cool metal. The herbs tansy and pennyroyal are well-known in folklore as abortive agents, but these also "work" by poisoning the woman. Levels of the active chemicals in these herbs that will induce a miscarriage are high enough to damage the liver, kidneys, and other organs, making them very dangerous. However, in those times where risk of maternal death from postpartum complications was high, the risks and side effects of toxic medicines may have seemed less onerous. Some herbalists claim that black cohosh tea will also be effective in certain cases as an abortifacient.

Presenters at a family planning conference told a tale of Arab traders inserting small stones into the uteruses of their camel in order to prevent pregnancy, a concept very similar to the modern IUD. Although the story has been repeated as truth, it has no basis in history and was meant only for entertainment purposes.The first interuterine devices (which occupied both the vagina and the uterus) were first marketed around 1900. The first modern intrauterine device (contained entirely in the uterus) was described in a German publication in 1909, although the author appears to have never marketed his product.

The Rhythm Method (with a rather high method failure rate of 10% per year) was developed in the early twentieth century, as researchers discovered that a woman only ovulates once per menstrual cycle. Not until the mid-20th century, when scientists better understood the functioning of the menstrual cycle and the hormones that controlled it, were oral contraceptives and modern methods of fertility awareness (also called natural family planning) developed.

Links to Lists of Article Titles on "Contraception (Birth Control) and Family Planning"

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