What birth control did people use before the modern ones became invented?

Question

What birth control did people use before the modern ones became invented?

Answer 1

Ancient egyptian women used to insert crocodile f***s into their vaginas as a means to supress the flow and strength of s***n. Frickin ew ... :S

Answer 2

chas chas is an idiot, even if you wait till marriage, you can still get a kid.

but I have heard that they used sheep skin as a type of condom.

Answer 3

Primarily by only having s*x once married.

Answer 4

Actually, throughout history, the best way to not get pregnant was engaging in anal s*x.

Answer 5

By not having s*x.

Answer 6

women used to take very hot baths--like getting in hot tub.  This would basically kill the embryo.  I don't know, however, how hot the water had to be.  Roman women did this.

Answer 7

Withdrawal.

Rhythm method.

Douching.

Anal s*x.

Condoms made of thin leather or animal intestines...The oldest claimed representation of condom use is a painting in the French cave Grotte des Combarrelles, the paintings in this cave are 12,000–15,000 years old.[

Very thick oil (like vaseline) as a plug.

Cervical plugs made of natural sponge, padded cotton or wool...

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uRJt7...

Lactic acid based spermicides...from ancient Egypt. I 'm not joking. They tried making up some of the odd recipes, and when left to ferment, they produced lactic acid anhydride, used as a modern spermicide.

http://www.mcmaster.ca/health/hwc/Studen...

Sylphium... A now extinct plant from Kyrenia, used a lot in ancient Rome. It was related to fennel, and was harvested into extinction. Apparently it was VERY effective, and could induce abortions and labour.

http://www.ceptualinstitute.com/uiu_plus...

Queen Anne's lace (wild carrot) seeds. Prevents implantation of the embryo.

http://www.robinrosebennett.com/wild_car...

Also abortifacients AKA 'emmenagogues' used to prevent implantation or taken 'to bring about women's courses' (Culpepers Herbal) if a period was late.... pomegranates, penny royal, artemisia, rue, myrrh and juniper.

You see carefully worded references to contraceptives in Culpeper's herbal. Usually it will just say something innocuos like' to bring about womens's courses' as a kind of code.

http://www.bibliomania.com/2/1/66/113/fr...

Prolonged breatsfeeding... has probably prevented more pregnancies through human history than any other method of contraception.

Answer 8

Women used to be much less fertile than we are currently. Menstruation began at older ages, and stopped at younger ages. Breastfeeding prevented ovulation, and women breast-fed for perhaps 3 or 4 years for each child. It's only when agriculture was invented, beginning 10,000 or so years ago, that women started to be fertile for longer periods of time, and started being able to have more children. Many methods of population and pregnancy control were used--infanticide, abortion, anal s*x, oral s*x, mutual masturbation, withdrawal, herbs, all were tried, with varying degrees of success.

Answer 9

Apparently the Romans invented the first condom, just a loin cloth around the manhood.

Answer 10

One of which makes us wonder is where the female used "crocodile dung, " other s were using spices and a combination of different forestry shrubs, I guess it worked!

Answer 11

My grandmother and a few older women that I have asked this question gave various answers, so I am assuming people used different things. Some used Petroleum jelly, some used withdrawal.

Answer 12

Ummm...You better ask the sheep!