--- title: Take a Look at History's Worst Contraceptives for Women description: This video was made to raise awareness of family planning canonical: https://time.com/3490547/history-worst-contraceptives-for-women/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-10T16:59:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:28.700Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Take a Look at History's Worst Contraceptives for Women og:description: This video was made to raise awareness of family planning og:url: https://time.com/3490547/history-worst-contraceptives-for-women/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt172b13d2e4635595/69875ffb428a9e6daccc475c/worst-contraceptives.png?branch=production&width=617&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 617 og:image:height: 347 og:image:alt: Worst contraceptives og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Take a Look at History's Worst Contraceptives for Women twitter:description: This video was made to raise awareness of family planning twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt172b13d2e4635595/69875ffb428a9e6daccc475c/worst-contraceptives.png?branch=production&width=617&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Take a Look at History's Worst Contraceptives for Women > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=a1248342-47d3-4e26-8f17-91d9d4e16761&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) by [Rachel Oakley / Lost at E Minor](https://time.com/author/lost-at-e-minor-zolton-zavos/) ## Rachel Oakley / Lost at E Minor Oct 10, 2014 4:59 PM UTC  Engender Health by [Rachel Oakley / Lost at E Minor](https://time.com/author/lost-at-e-minor-zolton-zavos/) ## Rachel Oakley / Lost at E Minor Oct 10, 2014 4:59 PM UTC  _This_ [_article_](http://www.lostateminor.com/2014/10/10/take-look-historys-worst-contraceptives-women/) _originally appeared on_ [_Lost at E Minor_](http://www.lostateminor.com/)_._ While the pill has been around for over 50 years, it took quite a long time to come up with a fuss-free method of contraception. Before the pill’s creation, there were some really awful ways to prevent pregnancy, and non-profit organization [EngenderHealth](http://www.engenderhealth.org/index-main.php) has come up with a video to show us of all those methods. We’re talking crocodile dung mixed with honey, beaver testicles with moonshine, pig intestines, and even glass bottles. The video was made to raise awareness of family planning through EngenderHealth’s [WTFP?! initiative](http://www.engenderhealth.org/wtfp/index.php), which aims to give a voice to the more than 220 million women around the world who don’t have access to contraception. (via [Design Taxi](http://designtaxi.com/news/369853/The-Worst-Contraceptives-Used-By-Women-Throughout-History/?interstital%5Fshown=1)) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3490547/history-worst-contraceptives-for-women/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3490547/history-worst-contraceptives-for-women/"},"headline":"Take a Look at History's Worst Contraceptives for Women","datePublished":"2014-10-10T16:59:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:28.700Z","description":"This video was made to raise awareness of family planning","url":"https://time.com/3490547/history-worst-contraceptives-for-women/","keywords":["sexuality","contraception","Birth Control"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt172b13d2e4635595/69875ffb428a9e6daccc475c/worst-contraceptives.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rachel Oakley / Lost at E Minor"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt172b13d2e4635595/69875ffb428a9e6daccc475c/worst-contraceptives.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Worst contraceptives","caption":"Worst contraceptives","creditText":"Engender Health","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/sexuality/","name":"sexuality"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3490547/history-worst-contraceptives-for-women/","name":"Take a Look at History's Worst Contraceptives for Women"}}]}] ```