Methods of contraception - the diaphragm
There has been some bizarre contraceptive advice in the past – swallowing tadpoles was an unpleasant oral method, and Casanova used a crude condom known as an English Riding Habit. A barrier method from the Catalan physician Arnold Villanova from the 13th century suggested that a woman should use pessaries made of elephant dung.
Well the diaphragm is perhaps a more palatable barrier device. Felicity Finch went to talk to Isabel Hinkley, a family planning nurse in East Birmingham, about the diaphragm, commonly known as the cap. |
