Abstract
A range of contraceptive technologies was available in Poland between the late 1950s and early 1970s. Following the legalization of abortion in 1956, a public health campaign, supported by the communist authorities, popularized contraception. Based on archival sources, press items, and popular medical literature, this article is the first systematic study of contraceptive technologies in postwar Poland before the pill, which also examines the trajectories of female barrier methods and spermicides. The availability and quality of these contraceptive products fluctuated in the centrally planned economy, and they were ascribed at times contradictory values. Thus, the circulation of contraceptive technologies was shaped by concurrent processes of innovation and maladjustment disconnected from the authorities' declarations of support for contraception as an alternative to abortion. Focusing on the materiality of contraceptive technologies sheds new light on the history of reproduction in postwar Poland.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
