Forerunners of the IUD

Contraceptive methods changed little from the early 1900s until the arrival of the Pill in the 1960s. Until the '60s it was mainly middle-class women who bought over-the-counter contraceptives and who could afford to pay for abortions from a doctor, while poorer, working-class women used folk remedies and backyard abortions. Even the rubber diaphragm was relatively expensive and women had to pay to have one fitted by a doctor. An even more costly form of contraceptive was the cervical pessary. This was a small metal device that a doctor fitted into the opening of the woman's cervix (the neck of the uterus).
One type was the gold 'wishbone' pessary. Its two prongs were held together by a piece of wax while it was being inserted. When the woman's body heat melted the wax, the prongs would come apart and hold the device in place. Cervical pessaries did not block off the uterus but they were an effective contraceptive, probably because they interfered with the action of sperm. They were the precursors of modern IUDs.

Gold 'wishbone' cervical pessaries. Powerhouse Museum collection.

You ask women what their idea of the ideal contraception is and, without exception, they'll say 'something a man takes'.
Colleen Gardener, Upjohn pharmaceutical company, 1995.

500 Harris Street Ultimo, PO Box K346 Haymarket, Sydney NSW 1238, Australia.
NSW Government | About this website | Privacy statement

all contents © copyright Powerhouse Museum
Powerhouse Museum collection index