December 4 - The Contraceptive Pill

This Day in History: 4 December 2019

 

4 December 1961

 

58 years ago, today, the female contraceptive pill became available on the British National Healthcare Service. Often described as one of the most significant medical advances of the 20th century, the 'pill' is a combination of oestrogen and progesterone hormones, developed by US doctor Dr Gregory Pincus, being able to prevent pregnancy and stabilising a woman's mensural cycle. It has also been shown, since its introduction, to protect against the cancer of the ovaries and the womb lining, and against pelvic inflammatory disease, which is a major cause of infertility in women. It was first introduced on the NHS in 1961 to married women only, until this changed in 1974, as the government at the time did not want to be seen as encouraging promiscuity or 'free love'. In 1974, however, family planning clinics were allowed to prescribe single women with the pill.

 

In the 60s, most women were expected to stay at home and raise the family, while her husband went out to work. Now, with the introduction of the contraceptive pill, women could have control on whether or not she had children. It was liberating for not only women but men as well, as previously, women had to reply on the man for contraception. The pill enabled individuals to control their reproductive health and to choose if they want a child. However, this also meant that marriage became harder to come by, as now, men did not have as much of an obligation to marry a woman if she became pregnant. Without this pressure to get married, many couples turned to co-habiting. As well as the pill's effect on women, it also affected children in adoption homes, as there was not as many available for adoption as in the past, and there were not as many unwanted children anymore. Despite this, it did not have a significant impact on reducing the population size. In summary, the pill gave women the opportunity to be freer in their own sexual habits, and changed the dynamics in relationships, as well as causing people to value children more than they had in the past.

 

Want to find out more on this medical achievement that granted women and couples a lot more freedom? Visit https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/sep/12/health.medicineandhealth for more details about the pill in Britain.