The history of birth control , also known as contraception and fertility control, refers to the methods or devices that have been historically used to prevent pregnancy. Birth control and abortion are well documented in Ancient Egypt. The Ebers Papyrus from BC and the Kahun Papyrus from BC have within them some of the earliest documented descriptions of birth control, the use of honey, acacia leaves and lint to be placed in the vagina to block sperm.
It describes various contraceptive pessaries , including acacia gum , which recent research has confirmed to have spermatocidal qualities and is still used in contraceptive jellies.
Other birth control methods mentioned in the papyrus include the application of gummy substances to cover the "mouth of the womb" i. Lactation breast-feeding of up to three years was also used for birth control purposes in ancient Egypt. The Book of Genesis references withdrawal, or coitus interruptus , as a method of contraception when Onan "spills his seed" ejaculates on the ground so as to not father a child with his deceased brother's wife Tamar.
Silphium , a species of giant fennel native to north Africa, may have been used as an oral contraceptive in ancient Greece and the ancient Near East. Other plants commonly used for birth control in ancient Greece include Queen Anne's lace Daucus carota , willow , date palm , pomegranate , pennyroyal , artemisia , myrrh , and rue. Some of these plants are toxic and ancient Greek documents specify safe dosages. Recent studies have confirmed the birth control properties of many of these plants, confirming for example that Queen Anne's lace has post coital anti-fertility properties.
Queen Anne's lace is still used today for birth control in India. According to Norman E. Himes , most methods of birth control used in antiquity were probably ineffective. In the 7th century BC, the Chinese physician Master Tung-hsuan documented both coitus reservatus and coitus obstructus, which prevents the release of semen during intercourse.
