ABSTRACT
In 1961, the first contraceptive pill was marketed in West Germany, prompting fierce debates over morals and ethics, the nature of sexuality in general and relationships between men and women in particular. Overall the pill was a catalyst for social change as it enabled new life choices and lifestyles (Silies 2010; Watkins 2012). Moreover, it had a massive impact on gynaecological practice. Women had formerly visited a gynaecologist’s office for medical complaints and advice in pregnancy. Now healthy women came in, wanting a prescription for a pharmaceutical substance that should prevent pregnancy. The majority of doctors were somewhat overwhelmed by this development; even more so because of the growing impact of media influences on medicine and the new grassroots medicine, which deeply challenged the professional identity of gynaecologists and the relationship between gynaecologists and women.
