Who Invented the Birth Control Pill?
In earlier times, women hardly had any means of preventing pregnancy . It wasn’t until 1960 that the first “pill” to be taken was available. The prerequisite for the development of the pill was the discovery that the female body is subject to regular cyclical changes, which are controlled by many hormones.
history of the pill
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It has been known since around 1850 that a woman’s ovaries produce an egg at regular intervals.
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In 1902, the hormones that control reproduction were discovered.
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In 1919, the physiologist Ludwig Haberlandt was the first to come up with the idea that a targeted administration of hormones simulates pregnancy in the female organism, thereby preventing ovulation and thus conception.
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In 1951, Carl Djerassi, originally from Austria, succeeded in synthesizing an orally effective artificial pregnancy hormone.
A means of swallowing?
However, Margaret Sanger and Katharine McCormick owe the origin of the pill above all to Margaret Sanger and Katharine McCormick . In 1960, the first “pill” to be taken orally came onto the market; In 1961 it was also available in Germany.
The pill was hotly disputed up until the 1970s and was the reason for numerous demonstrations. Pope Paul VI forbids 1968 in his encyclical “Humanae vitae” artificial contraception.
Safe contraceptive
Nevertheless, the triumph of the pill could not be stopped, because the pill relieved women of great insecurity and the fear of unwanted pregnancy. There are 2 forms:
- The classic contraceptive pill consists of two hormones, namely estrogen and progestin. All preparations on the market today contain the synthetically produced estrogen ethinyl estradiol in different amounts (maximum 50 µg). There are many different types of progestogens and new ones are constantly being added. In the meantime, the so-called third generation has arrived.
- Progestin-only preparations ( minipill ). These oral contraceptive preparations contain only small amounts of a progestin.
The contraceptive pill is used by around 65 million women worldwide, and it is also the most commonly used contraceptive in Germany. The fact that the pill is the safest form of contraception after sterilization has also contributed to this acceptance. Statistically, only two unwanted pregnancies occur for every 1,000 women who rely on them for a year.