History is full of all sorts of horrible-sounding devices, tricks and superstitions women have used to try to avoid getting pregnant before the pill and latex condoms came along. Here are 10 of the weirdest birth control methods from throughout time.
1 - Weasel Tessticles: This one was straight up for believers in magic, who were common during ye olde Dark Ages. Women in Europe wore amulets fashioned from weasel testicles, or bone taken from the right side of a black cat, to ward off pregnancy.
2 - Spitting & Other Rituals: In Greenland, the natives once believed that the Moon made women pregnant. In order to avoid becoming pregnant by the Moon, the women of Greenland would avoid looking at the lunar orb, and before going to sleep at night they would rub a bit of their spit onto their bellies so that the Moon wouldn’t secretly impregnate them while they slept. It was also a custom for women to sleep on their bellies to avoid being impregnated by the Moon.
3 - Beaver Testicles & Alcohol: This practice dates back to the 16th century in Canada, when women sought to prevent conception by soaking dried beaver testicles in a concentrated solution of alcohol and then deeply drinking the resulting infuse. There is no record of its effectiveness.
4 - Lysol: In the early 1900s, women were encouraged to use Lysol as a spermicide. For the uninitiated, Lysol is a household cleaning and sanitizing agent. Basically, it's NOT meant to be anywhere near the vagina. It lead to some medical effects and even some deaths before being taken of the birth control radar.
5 - Olive Oil: In ancient Greece, olive oil mixed with cedar oil was used as a spermicide. Aristotle wrote about this method, but he added “ointment of lead” into the mix. Women discovered early on that olive oil decreased sperm’s mobility, giving the woman time after sex to wash out her husband’s or customer’s ejaculation.
6 - Mercury: The highly civilized people of ancient China had their own unique methods of birth control. One of the most frightening methods for preventing pregnancy involved a mixture of oil and mercury (quicksilver). The woman was supposed to drink this mixture on an empty stomach to avoid unwanted pregnancies.
7 - Crocodile Dung: The ancient Egyptians came up with this method, dating back to 1850 B.C. Women would stick a ball of crocodile dung and honey in themselves, hoping the alkaline qualities would prevent pregnancy.
8 - Papaya: In South Asia and Southeast Asia, unripe papaya was used to prevent or terminate pregnancy. Once papaya is ripe, though, it loses the phytochemicals that interfere with progesterone and thus its contraceptive and abortifacient properties. The seeds of the papaya could actually serve as an effective male contraceptive. Papaya seeds, taken daily, could cut a man’s sperm count to zero and was safe for long-term use. Best of all, the sterility was reversible: if the man stopped taking the seeds, his sperm count would return to normal.
9 - Blacksmith Water: Those ancient Greeks, always mindful of waste, found a way to reuse the water that blacksmiths used to cool materials. Some thought drinking it would prevent pregnancy. The idea persisted up through World War I, when women volunteered to work in factories for the free exposure to lead. Of course, exposure to lead can cause lots of other health problems, so pregnancy was the least of their concerns.
10 - Squat & Sneeze: Ancient Greek physician Soranus recommended that a woman squat and sneeze after intercourse to prevent pregnancy; he also recommended birth control methods such as holding your breath, and jumping up and down.
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