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Birth Control Essay

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Since the technology of contraceptives has been invented, the use has become more popular, the rates of women receiving higher education has increased, and fertility rates have lowered. I am interested about how birth control has evolved, and the effects it has had on women socially and economically. The research begins before the 17th century; the primary purpose of contraceptives was to prevent disease, not pregnancy. During this time the Catholic Church in Europe does not recognize birth control aside from abstinence, causing citizens to break away from the church. By the 18th century doctors in France were educating men about birth control, and contraceptives were used there more than any other country. The dynamic of families in …show more content…

The approved practice was abstinence because it prevented both premarital sex and unintended pregnancy.
During the 18th century France became the most sexually open country in Europe. Doctors began educating men on forms of birth control, and the benefits of having smaller families. While this went against the rules of the church, citizens began to keeps the church and their personal agenda separate. Wealthy citizens chose to make a decision to have less children in order to keep either funds, it was the ability to feed fewer mouths, and not have to work as hard to keep their economic stature. France was using openly using birth control more than any other country in Europe. The wealthy women of France saw marriage as an inconvenience and often sought to move to bigger cities in order to receive an education, this is how the use of contraceptives was introduced into marriages. Men were primarily educated on the use of birth control, and would receive the education from their doctors. The methods included the optional abstinence, but also homeopathic herbs, home made cervical caps, and other barrier method that had existed before.
In the United States by the 1800s the birth rate was higher than anywhere else in the world, and the average family has eight children. During the civil war birthrates began to drop significantly, and by the end of the 19th century the average family was having three children. During

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