There are a number of birth control methods available in the market nowadays. The contraceptive today not only lessen the chances of getting pregnant but also protects a person from STDs, and HIV. However, it was not always the case.
Ever imagined how life was before these modern contraceptives? In the age long before contraceptives people used weird methods for birth control. The time when people hardly understood how fertility cycles of women worked, how sperm fertilises an egg or how the entire pregnancy worked.
We bring to you a number of weird birth control methods used by people in the past:
Lemon
Lemon was used as a contraceptive and was apparently discovered by Casanova in the 18th century. Women used half a lemon and shoved into their vaginas to use it as a contraceptive. It was believed that the citric acid in the lemon would kill the sperm.
Coke
In the 60s, people apparently used the fizzy drink and shoot into their vagina to kill the sperm. "Three Harvard researchers note that Coca-Cola is said to be favoured for this purpose [using as spermicides] in some developing countries and was touted in American folklore as a contraceptive aid in years gone by," according to a 1985's newspaper summary about the first study that was undertaken to verify claims about contraceptive properties of Coke revealed.
"No documentation of the soft drinks spermicidal capabilities was found, so Dr. Sharee Umpierre and two colleagues decided to test Coke in some of its various formulations in their lab. They found that Diet Coke was a most effective spermicide and the original formula Coke was also quite effective, five times more so than the reformulated new Coke," the report added.
Crocodile Poop
Well, when talking about spermicide, there was another method that was used in the past. Yes, Crocodile poop was used by Egyptians for birth control and that too by making a paste of it with honey. The pasted was inserted in women and was actually considered fairly effective because of the acidic properties of the poop.
Pig Intestines
Before the discovery of latex, men supposedly used intestines of pig for the same reason. Moreover, they reused it by soaking it in milk to kill microbes. No matter how gross it sounds, people back in 16th century did use it for birth control.
Testicle tea
Coke wasn't enough so they also tried out tea. But, a different kind of tea, apparently people used beaver testicle tea once upon a time for birth control. People in China believed that that beaver testicle tea works well as an oral contraceptive.
Weasel Testicles
Not just beaver testicle, weasel testicles were also used as contraceptives. However, it was possibly used in the weirdest way and people had the least idea about how conception and pregnancy takes place.
It was believed that weasel testicle method was used by many medieval Europeans, by hanging it around the woman's neck during intercourse.
Sneeze
No matter how absurd it sounds, women used to try to sneeze after intercourse to get the semen out. Also, some used the method of squat and sneeze for the same reason.
