Introduction

Abstract

In 'One Woman's Mission', an article in the Sunday Times Magazine in 1973, pioneer birth control activist and female gynaecologist Helena Wright recalled the pivotal moment in her career. In 1928, Wright intrepidly dedicated herself to making contraception both acceptable and accessible. Looking back on this decision, she explained: 'It seemed to me in a prophetic way, that birth control was the single subject that women doctors had to get hold of. ' 1 The implications of Wright's vision for women doctors-to 'make contraception respectable'-cannot be overstated. Perhaps more than anyone in her generation, Wright contributed to the spread of birth control at both national and international levels; however, she was not alone in that endeavour. As her crusading remark underlines, women doctors 'got hold' of the subject of birth control from the 1920s onwards. But how did women doctors undertake this campaign at a time when contraception was a contentious topic that divided the medical profession and, indeed, the broader public? This question has received surprisingly scant attention. 2 I tell this story by exploring the key role that British female doctors played in the production and circulation of contraceptive knowledge and the handling of sexual disorders. I focus first and mostly on Britain and then on the international and transnational levels between the 1920s and the 1970s; I take France as a point of comparison. This study charts the accomplishment of several women doctors as they made their way through the predominantly maledominated medical landscape. They sought to establish the use of birth control-that is, any practices, methods, and devices that could prevent pregnancy-as a legitimate field of medicine. Alongside their work to medicalise and legitimise birth control, they promoted family planning,