ABSTRACT
The placement of a foreign body within the endometrial cavity for contraception had a partial genesis in Arabic medicine. Dating back to about the 16th century, desert nomads had placed stones in the uterine cavities of camels to prevent conception prior to and during safaris. In the late 1920s and 1930s, a flurry of enthusiasm flourished centering about the Grafenberg ring as a possible mode of contraception, only to disappear in a relatively short period of time due to the infectious complications which ensued. The rekindling of interest in the use of foreign bodies as a mode of contraception was predicated on a technologic innovation, namely, the development of inert flexible plastic with a memory from which intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUDs) could be made.
