It was certainly the desire to prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies that generated early demand for birth control, but as society began to change, other factors came into play. The Industrial Revolution signaled the end of agrarian societies and the need for very large families. As women became more educated, they developed the desire to control their own fertility. During the two world wars, as more and more women joined the work force—at first temporarily to fill in for men who had gone to war and later permanently—large families became incompatible with women’s new life-styles. Now, with overpopulation threatening the existence of the planet, things have turned totally around: it seems that birth control has now become a necessity for the survival of our species.
There are two basic methods of birth control—the prevention of pregnancy and the prevention of birth through abortion. Abortion was probably the first avenue tried by women, who may not have understood how they could prevent pregnancy but certainly knew they wanted to end their pregnancies before they resulted in births. Most of the abortion potions cooked up by witch doctors and medicine women probably did nothing more than make women sick, but certainly the desire was there, if not the means.


Ad provided by: http://www.sexuality-encyclopedia.co.../Birth_Control