HOW DID WOMEN PROTECT FROM UNWANTED PREGNANCY IN ANCIENT TIMES?
A. Griber
Once upon a time, back in Soviet times (it seems, during the first teleconference “USSR - USA”), one overly zealous party activist declared publicly from a Moscow television studio to the whole world that there was no sex in the USSR. We then laughed at her at our TV sets, twirled our finger at our temples and sympathized with the poor woman, who, apparently, reproduced by budding.
Unlike this party lady, at all times throughout the world people have had sex. And this pleasure did not always remain without consequences. It’s so programmed by nature that “if you love to ride, you also love to carry a sled.”
But, as one song says, “they picked the sweet berry together, but I alone picked the bitter berry.” Therefore, for the most part, it was women who had to take some actions aimed at protecting against unwanted pregnancy.
In 1889, an ancient papyrus approximately 4,000 years old was found in northern Egypt in Kahuna. Here was a recipe for a very effective (and also the most ancient) contraceptive: it was necessary to protect the vagina with resin, a mixture of honey and sodium carbonate, or a paste of crocodile dung mixed with sour milk.
Another Egyptian document, the Ebers Papyrus (circa 1525 BC), describes the use of tampons made from a mixture of finely ground acacia leaves with honey and cinnamon.
Ancient Egyptians also used sea sponges soaked in vinegar as tampons.
In the 4th century BC. Aristotle suggested that women lubricate their vaginas with cedar oil, lead ointment, or incense dipped in olive oil.
The ancient Roman physicians Dioscorides (40–80 AD) and Galen (129–199 AD) suggested plants such as asafoetida, juniper, pennyroyal, mad cucumber, and wild carrot as contraceptives. It was also recommended to use an infusion of willow and poplar bark.
Soranus of Ephesus (1st century AD) suggested lubricating the opening of the uterus:
– old olive oil, honey, cedar resin;
– balsam tree sap, can be combined with white lead;
– ointment with myrtle oil and white lead;
– wet alum (mineral table salt);
- resin in wine.
Among the ancient Jews, contraception was prohibited altogether. Exceptions were made for women under 12 years of age and nursing mothers, for whom the rabbis advised placing a sponge in the vagina. Women were also offered to drink special drinks made from resin.
In a collection of Indian medical recipes (8th century AD), women were recommended to either lubricate the vagina with a mixture of honey and ghee, or use plugs made of crushed rock salt and butter. Vaginal tampons made from acacia leaves and elephant feces were also used.
Islamic literature of the 13th century recommended the use of elephant dung (instead of crocodile dung), as it was more acidic. Arab women inserted tampons with feces of ungulates, cabbage, earwax, as well as tampons made of cotton and pomegranate pulp, impregnated with narcotic substances into the vagina. Women ate peas on an empty stomach or did intense jumping jacks after intercourse.
In ancient China they used a mixture vegetable oil and mercury, which was injected into the vagina, as well as a mixture of cedar resin, alum and pomegranate.
In the ancient civilizations of the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs, women prevented conception by drinking infusions and decoctions from the root of a plant called Dioscorea.
Women of the Cherokee Indian tribe in America chewed or ate the root of the poisonous weed, and women of the Shoshone tribe took sparrowweed in the form of a decoction called “desert tea”, as well as powder from Paraguayan weed, which was washed down with water.
In America, Indian women, even before the advent of Spanish colonizers and other immigrants from Europe, used a decoction of mahogany and lemon to wash the vagina after sexual intercourse for the purpose of contraception.
In the Middle Ages, European women used cotton wool and paper tampons soaked in acetic acid, drank juniper decoction or oil, drank marjoram tea, drank asparagus decoction, used crushed shepherd's purse or plantain powder.
In Malaysia, women drank unripe pineapple juice for several days after menstruation, while women in the Pacific Islands and Java drank unripe coconut juice.
In North America, women drank a decoction of crushed ginger root or burdock tea.
In Malaysia, North and South America women drank juice, decoctions or powder from milkweed, mistletoe and peas.
As they say, the need for invention is cunning. However, many ancient remedies for preventing pregnancy, although not 100% effective, still served their purpose to some extent. True, sometimes it’s radical: “No person, no problem”...
When birth control pills did not yet exist in the world, women used folk remedies contraception. All kinds of rituals, recipes and conspiracies were passed down from generation to generation, by word of mouth.
Douching
Just like in many other countries, Russian women practiced douching to prevent unwanted pregnancy. To do this, they used vinegar, urine (your own or your spouse's) and even horse manure. Later, namely during the reign of Peter I, wealthy ladies began to use lemon juice for douching. At that time, these citrus fruits had just appeared in Russia and were not cheap.
Of course, such manipulations did not provide a 100% guarantee, but modern doctors claim that these actions actually made sense. The fact is that the effect here was achieved by changing the acidic environment of the vagina and reducing sperm motility. However, according to doctors, acid irritates the mucous membranes of internal organs, and frequent douching can cause vaginal dysbiosis.
Bath
Both before and after sexual intercourse, in order to avoid conception, spouses often visited the bathhouse. Today's scientists are skeptical about this method. The steam room atmosphere actually somewhat reduces sperm activity. However, the probability of conception still remains quite high.
But as for women who are already pregnant, doctors really do not recommend that they abuse bath procedures, as this can cause dehydration and decreased blood pressure. These factors, in turn, can provoke bleeding and miscarriage in the early stages.
Conspiracies
To prevent pregnancy, women also resorted to the help of healers and witches, who knew many miraculous conspiracies for any occasion. For example, to avoid conception, a rag with menstrual blood was buried near a dead apple, pear or other fruit tree with the words: “With the blood I give birth, / With that I destroy. / Like a tree without fruits and seeds, / So I will be without a burden. Amen". It was believed that this ritual loses its power only three years after its completion.
And some sorceresses advised before each intimacy with her husband to read the following conspiracy: “You are my mother, evening dawn, I, sinful servant of God (name), complain about you, about seventy maidens, about seventy fruit-bearing women, so that they do not give birth, so that they do not were fruitful. My conspiracy is locked: the key is in the sea, the lock is in my mouth. Amen, amen, amen."
Herbs
But most often the witches resorted to the help of various potions. So, in order to avoid getting pregnant or even cause a miscarriage, women drank infusions of various herbs: juniper, nettle, tansy, spurge, and willow bark. And some, on the advice of healers, ate parsley. According to doctors, these plants really have contraceptive effect, but it is so insignificant that the chance of finding yourself in an interesting position when using them is very high.
Nowadays, protection from unwanted pregnancy is not a problem. Pharmacies offer a wide range of contraceptives. How did our ancestors deal with this? Let's figure it out.
How have contraception been viewed in the past?
Because the church frowned upon not wanting to have children, contraception was not particularly advertised. In peasant families, it was customary to give birth as many as God willing. Moreover, centuries ago there was a high infant mortality rate, and out of 10-15 children that a woman gave birth to in her life, more than half might not survive.
However, not everyone and did not always rely on the will of God. Most often, women were puzzled by the issue of contraception, especially in those cases when they entered into an extramarital affair or the family was in poverty, they did not want to feed an extra mouth... What methods did they resort to?
Etching of the fetus
Abortion as such was not practiced in Rus' or was very rare. If a woman wanted to get rid of the fetus, she usually went to a healer and she gave her special infusions that caused a miscarriage. Sometimes infusions were drunk for preventive purposes - after unprotected sexual intercourse and before menstruation, so that pregnancy would not occur. The composition of the decoctions was different - they often included nettle, juniper, spurge, burdock, peas, infusion of willow bark... Some chewed parsley for four days after intercourse. Need I say how unreliable and even absurd these methods were?
Bath
Even today, if they suspect pregnancy, some still advise women to steam their feet with mustard. People often went to the steam room after intercourse, as well as when menstruation was late. True, this method, like many others, was not effective.
Sour foods
Our ancestors believed that acid in the vagina prevented pregnancy. So some people injected urine or vinegar into the vagina after intercourse. The nobility used lemon slices for these purposes: these fruits began to be delivered to Russia during the time of Peter I. There was also such a recipe: horse manure, honey and special herbs were mixed, applied to a cloth and injected inside. True, the “oxidative” method was still not particularly popular in Rus' - it was not only inconvenient and ineffective, but also simply dangerous.
And sometimes women were even advised to eat bees so that bee acid would prevent pregnancy. But it is clear that this was of no use either.
Condoms
Oddly enough, in Rus' they also used condoms or their prototypes. They were made from bovine bladder or small intestines of young animals, most often sheep. But this method of protection was rare, since these products were too difficult to manufacture.
Rings
In the 19th century, women who did not want to have any more children inserted a wedding ring into their uterus. They did this during the first two hours after the birth of the child, until the cervix began to contract.
It was assumed that the ring was supposed to act like a modern spiral. In addition, it was believed that if it was made of precious metal, it had a bactericidal effect. The woman then carried it in her uterus for many years, and it happened that the rings grew into the tissue. After the revolution, 80-90-year-old old women more than once came to see gynecologists with complaints about bloody issues. During curettage, wedding rings were pulled out of the uterus, which had been there for 30-40 years.
Coitus interruptus
This method was practiced quite often: our ancestors believed that it prevented the male seed from entering the female body, and, accordingly, a woman cannot become pregnant. However, it is now known: this method is one of the most unreliable, and not only because the probability of “not being on time” is extremely high.
Lactation
Even now, many women try to breastfeed their children for longer, because they believe that it helps not to get pregnant. It is believed that while the mother is breastfeeding, eggs do not mature in her body. But, of course, this method did not work, and quite often such parents gave birth to children of the same age.
In short, there were many ways - the only problem was that none of them worked in reality. People did not know how the human reproductive system works, and therefore made terrible mistakes when trying to “protect themselves” from unwanted pregnancy. And it’s good if these mistakes simply led to the birth of a child, and did not cripple women.
One day, a girl brought her boyfriend home, where they indulged in wild love. This violent scene was witnessed by her grandmother, who heard the noise and woke up. The grandmother scolded her granddaughter... no, not for dissolute behavior, but for the fact that she was doing it completely wrong. And she told me how to do it. 
No later than 4 hours before the intended sex, the man calls the girl to inform her that he will probably desire her today. The girl must stock up on the necessary equipment, and if it is not available, then during these 4 hours she should go to the store and buy it. What you need to have: gauze No. 1, size 150x100 cm, gauze No. 2, size 20x10 cm, gauze No. 3, size 20x10 cm After 4 hours, the couple meets in some apartment. A girl in clothes goes to the bathroom to wash. He returns from there in a nightgown, lies on his back on the bed, facing the wall. Now the young man goes to the bathroom. While he is washing, the girl puts gauze No. 1 under herself, then takes off her nightgown, without disturbing this gauze. She hangs gauze No. 2 on the headboard of the bed. A young man comes out of the bathroom, in an excited state and holding gauze No. 3 in his hand. If suddenly his excitement subsides, the whole process will have to start all over again. Seeing that he is approaching, the girl removes gauze No. 2 from the headboard, without moving gauze No. 1, puts gauze No. 2 on her groin, then spreads her legs to the width of the bed (even if it is a double bed, this rule is not canceled), but not wider , and turns his head to the wall. A man lies on top of a girl and has sex with her. At the same time, he holds gauze No. 3 on his hand. The girl is not supposed to move or make any sounds. When he feels the approach of orgasm, he should come out of her and cum on gauze No. 2, which lies on the girl, after which he wipes himself with gauze No. 3, which he was holding in his hand. Then the young man takes gauze No. 2 and No. 3 and goes to the bathroom to wash them. Meanwhile, the girl satisfies herself, if she did not have time to have an orgasm, then gets up and rolls gauze No. 1 into a tube. A man comes out of the bath dressed in pajamas and goes to the balcony to hang gauze No. 2 and No. 3 to dry. The girl goes to wash herself in the vacated bathroom, and also wash gauze No. 1, which she also hangs on the balcony, then goes to bed with the young man, who had already gone to bed at the time she washed gauze No. 1. The next day, you can repeat this ritual, in no way disturbing the sequence of actions, and having agreed on this in advance at least 4 hours in advance. And this contraceptive system was very effective for my grandparents (who were not at that time). One single time, my grandmother decided to use a trophy condom, brought to her from Germany by her husband, and which had lain in the closet for 3 years. And in the process of using it, it turned out that it was either defective or torn from old age and stress. The result was the appearance of the girl’s mother, who told this story.
WHAT CONTRACEPTIVES DID MEN USE IN ANCIENT TIMES?
A. Griber
For some reason, it has always been believed that protection from unwanted pregnancy should be the responsibility of women. Therefore, most contraceptives were invented by mankind for women.
However, at all times, men were no less attentive to this issue. In particular, the most ancient contraceptives discovered by archaeologists were undoubtedly used by men.
The ancient Roman writer Antoninus Liberalus (circa 2nd century AD) wrote a legend about King Minos of Crete, who reigned around 1400 BC. According to this legend, the seed of Minos consisted of scorpions and snakes. Therefore, in order to protect the women with whom he had sexual intercourse, Minos began using goat bladders as a contraceptive.
IN Ancient Egypt(1350–1200 BC) male contraceptives were also used. This is evidenced by ancient chronicles and found drawings. Although, most likely, these predecessors of condoms in those days had not so much a sexual as a ritual (religious) purpose. In any case, they also served as a piece of jewelry for men and were small caps made of intestines or bladder animals decorated with precious stones.
The oldest surviving condom is kept in the National Museum of Cairo. This condom is made of leather and supposedly belonged to Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Some kind of condom existed in ancient Rome. The material for their manufacture was resin, animal intestines and other available materials. These condom prototypes were used for both contraception and protection against disease, as well as for decoration.
Ancient Roman legionnaires used the skin and mucous membranes of killed enemy soldiers to make condoms. The army generally monitored the procurement and distribution of dried livestock intestines to soldiers during long campaigns for use as condoms.
The Byzantine court physician Aetius of Amidia (6th century AD) advised men to wash their genitals with vinegar or sea water before starting sexual intercourse. Vinegar counts effective means against sperm.
The Indians of North America used a decoction of the Arum maculatum plant, which interferes with the development of sperm.
In medieval texts by Jewish and Muslim authors, male contraceptive methods such as washing the penis with onion juice or smearing it with resin are found.
The first reliable description of a condom was found in the work of Gabriel Fallopius, an anatomy professor at the University of Padua, “De Morbo Gallico” (1564). He claimed that the linen pouch he invented, which was supposed to be worn on the penis, was tested on 1,100 men.
Initially, this invention was intended to protect against infection with sexually transmitted diseases. Fallopius advised using this linen bag soaked in an antiseptic solution of herbs and inorganic salts during sexual intercourse. But already in 1655 in Paris, in the anonymous publication “L’Ecole des filles” it was said that these linen bags also retain sperm.
According to one theory, men used condoms as early as the Middle Ages. Their name was borrowed as a joke by a certain scholar from the Persian word "kondu" or "kendu", which denoted an oblong vessel made from animal intestines for storing grain.
In the 18th century, the court physician, Colonel of His Majesty's Royal Army, Count Condom, who served at the court of Charles II, began to promote a condom made from sheep intestines as a means of protection against unwanted pregnancy. This doctor was a notorious philanderer who was said to be bothered by his illegitimate children. It is believed that later male condoms were named after him (“condom”).
Surviving from 1800, condoms were made from dried sheep intestines. Before use, they had to be wetted and then tied with a ribbon, because a wet piece of sheep intestine had limited elasticity. In his memoirs, the legendary Casanova called these condoms “an angel’s cloak.”
By the end of the 18th century, the production of condoms was already on stream. In 1843, the process of vulcanizing rubber was discovered, which led to the mass production of effective and cheap condoms (condoms).
