larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) (11/03/86)
I don't usually read soc.women, but I recently caught some discussion
concerning cervical caps as a contraceptive device. The impression that I
gathered was that people thought this was a "new" concept. This is not true.
The use of cervical caps goes back at least 100 years. The first
cervical caps were usually made from silver, although other materials such
as celluloid and hard rubber were used.
I don't believe that cervical caps were originally intended as a
contraceptive device, although that "side-effect" was rather quickly
discovered :-). Instead, cervical caps were an outgrowth of finding new
methods of designing pessaries. For those unfamiliar with the term, a
pessary is a device that is inserted and _left_ in the vagina to effect
a non-surgical "cure" of uterine prolapse.
Uterine prolapse was a rather common occurence during the 1800's due
to diffcult childbirth. Since caesarian section was extremely risky to a
woman during that period of time, an awful lot of gynecological tissue
damage occured during childbirth. Followup gynecological surgery was also
very risky business in the 1800's for obvious reasons, and was still
considered risky until well into the 1900's. Physicians would consequently
go to great lengths to effect a non-surgical cure for gynecological troubles,
hence the "great search for a better pessary".
Other types of pessaries, such as the "stem pessary", functioned
as a contraceptive device by working not unlike a contemporary IUD.
While effective as a contraceptive device, early cervical caps and
pessaries were not without their problems. The medical profession and the
public did not have the concepts of hygiene in the 1800's as they do today,
and consequently infections were a common side effect of using cervical caps
and pessaries. Also, the medical profession did not have the concepts of
materials science in the 1800's to chose materials which would be safe for
long-term internal use without causing tissue irritation and without being
a breeding ground for infection (silver was a pretty safe bet, though).
Contraception was somewhat of a "hush-hush" topic during the 1800's.
I happen to be rather interested in medical history, and have a collection
of old medical books and catalogues from the 1800's. Some catalogues have
over 50 different styles of pessaries and cervical caps, however NO WHERE
does it mention the intention for contraception. I suspect that women who
wished to use this type of contraception at the time just went to a physician
to be fitted with a pessary with a tacit understanding of "no questions asked"
as to the REAL purpose of the pessary (or cervical cap).
The use of cervical caps and pessaries seems to significantly declined
after the 1920's as the incidence of uterine prolapse decreased, its surgical
cure became more commonplace, and advances in materials and manufacturing
techniques resulted in reliable condoms.
==> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, New York
==> UUCP: {allegra|decvax|rocksanne|rocksvax|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry
==> VOICE: 716/688-1231 {hplabs|ihnp4|seismo|utzoo}!/
==> FAX: 716/741-9635 {G1,G2,G3} "Have you hugged your cat today?" werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (11/05/86)
> > I don't believe that cervical caps were originally intended as a > contraceptive device, although that "side-effect" was rather quickly > discovered :-). > Contraception was somewhat of a "hush-hush" topic during the 1800's. > I happen to be rather interested in medical history, and have a collection > of old medical books and catalogues from the 1800's. Some catalogues have > over 50 different styles of pessaries and cervical caps, however NO WHERE > does it mention the intention for contraception. History does repeat itself in subtle ways. In the late 1950s, Oral Estrogens were not yet approved for contraception, but were approved for dysmenorrhea -- yet had to bear the warning that they would inhibit ovulation (as a side effect). As I mentioned once before in these newsgroups, over a period of a year or two, the incidence of dysmenorrhea "increased" about 20-fold. -- Craig Werner (MD/PhD '91) !philabs!aecom!werner (1935-14E Eastchester Rd., Bronx NY 10461, 212-931-2517) "Man posesses limited intelligence, but alas, unlimited stupidity."