SOCIAL HISTORIES OF MEDICINE SOCIAL HISTORIES OF MEDICINE Women’s medicine Women’s Women’s medicine highlights British female doctors’ key contribution to the production and circulation of scientific knowledge around contraception, family planning and sexual disorders between 1920 and 1970. It argues that women doctors were pivotal in developing a holistic approach to family planning and transmitting this knowledge across borders, playing a more prominent role in shaping scientific and medical knowledge than previously acknowledged. The book locates women doctors’ involvement within the changing landscape of national and international reproductive politics. Illuminating women doctors’ agency in the male-dominated field of medicine, this book reveals their practical engagement with birth control and later family planning clinics in Britain, their participation in the development of the international movement of birth control and family planning and their influence on French doctors. Drawing on a wide range of archived and published medical materials, Rusterholz sheds light on the strategies British female doctors used and the alliances they made to put forward their medical agenda and position themselves as experts and leaders in birth control and family planning research and practice. Caroline Rusterholz is a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow in the Faculty of History at the University of Cambridge Caroline Rusterholz Caroline Caroline Rusterholz Cover image: Set of 12 rubber diaphragms (Science Museum/Science & Society ISBN 978-1-5261-4912-1 Picture Library) Women’s medicine Cover design: riverdesignbooks.com Sex, family planning and British female doctors in transnational perspective, 9 781526 149121 1920–70 www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk Women’s medicine SOCIAL HISTORIES OF MEDICINE Series editors: David Cantor, Elaine Leong and Keir Waddington Social Histories of Medicine is concerned with all aspects of health, illness and medicine, from prehistory to the present, in every part of the world. The series covers the circumstances that promote health or illness, the ways in which people experience and explain such conditions, and what, practically, they do about them. Practitioners of all approaches to health and healing come within its scope, as do their ideas, beliefs, and practices, and the social, economic and cultural contexts in which they operate. Methodologically, the series welcomes relevant studies in social, economic, cultural, and intellectual history, as well as approaches derived from other disciplines in the arts, sciences, social sciences and humanities. The series is a collaboration between Manchester University Press and the Society for the Social History of Medicine. Previously published Migrant architects of the NHS Julian M. Simpson Mediterranean quarantines, 1750–1914 Edited by John Chircop and Francisco Javier Martínez Sickness, medical welfare and the English poor, 1750–1834 Steven King Medical societies and scientific culture in nineteenth-century BelgiumJoris Vandendriessche Vaccinating Britain Gareth Millward Madness on trial James E. Moran Early Modern Ireland and the world of medicine Edited by John Cunningham Feeling the strain Jill Kirby Rhinoplasty and the nose in early modern British medicine and culture Emily Cock Communicating the history of medicine Edited by Solveig Jülich and Sven Widmalm Progress and pathology Edited by Melissa Dickson, Emilie Taylor-Brown and Sally Shuttleworth Balancing the self Edited by Mark Jackson and Martin D. Moore Accounting for health: Calculation, paperwork and medicine, 1500–2000 Edited by Oliver Falk and Axel C. Hüntelmann Women’s medicine Sex, family planning and British female doctors in transnational perspective, 1920–70 Caroline Rusterholz Manchester University Press Copyright © Caroline Rusterholz 2020 The right of Caroline Rusterholz to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, thanks to the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation, which permits non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction provided the author(s) and Manchester University Press are fully cited and no modifications or adaptations are made. Details of the licence can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Published with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation Published by Manchester University Press Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 5261 4912 1 hardback First published 2020 The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Cover image: Set of 12 rubber diaphragms (Science Museum/Science & Society Picture Library) Cover design: riverdesignbooks.com Typeset by New Best-set Typesetters Ltd Contents List of figures page vi Acknowledgements vii List of abbreviations x Short biographies of the main characters xi Introduction 1 1 Giving birth control medical credentials in Britain: 1920–70 37 2 Sexual disorders and infertility: expanding the work of the clinics 85 3 Medicalising birth control at the international conferences (1920–37): a British–French comparison 137 4 Building a transnational movement for family planning: 1928–70 169 5 Testing IUDs: a transnational journey of expertise 196 Conclusion 224 References 232 Index 255 Figures 1 Pytram Pelvic model: demonstration pelvic front view. Source: ‘Demonstration model of the teaching of contraceptive techniques, designed to the specification of Dr Helena Wright, approved by the FPA. Produced exclusively by Pytram Ltd’, Wellcome Library, London, SA/FPA/A19/9. page 54 2 Pytram Pelvic model: top view showing the interior cavity, with the removal wall. Source: Wellcome Library, London, SA/FPA/A19/9. 55 Acknowledgements The research for this project was generously funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, who also provided the funding to make this book open access. I am indebted to many people who actively contributed to making this research possible. First, I would like to thank Simon Szreter, who warmly welcomed me in Cambridge for a six- month visiting fellowship, and provided institutional support, food for thought and friendship through this journey. In Cambridge, I was also lucky enough to count Jesse Olszynko-Gryn as a friend. Both Simon and Jesse read many parts of this book. I am also deeply grateful to Joanna Bourke, Sean Brady and Matt Cook who supported my applica- tion for an honorary position at Birkbeck College. There, I met wonder- ful people and colleagues. Particular thanks to David Byrdan, Marcia Holmes, Simon Jarret, Carmen Mangion, Sarah Marks, Francesca Piana, Kathryn Schoefert, Dora Vargha and Mark Volovici. A special thank you to Lesley Hall, who has been invaluably kind and helpful during this research by sharing her knowledge, insights and sources. Yuliya Hilevych also deserves a special mention as she has been there for me from my first year as a PhD student to my current position. Her support, friendship, stimulating brain and encouragement, as well as the time she spent reading my work and commenting on earlier drafts of this book, have been essential for me. Special thanks also go to Laura Kelly and Agata Ignaciuk for their friendship, detailed and useful com- ments and proofreading drafts of this manuscript. For encouragement, advice, proofreading and feedback at different stages, and in different contexts, many thanks to Laura Beers, Nicole Bourbonnais, Jessica Borge, Sandra Bree, Fabrice Cahen, Sylvie Chap- eron, Charlotte Cree, Chris Crenner, Ivan Crozier, Donna Drucker, viii Acknowledgements Kate Fisher, Alana Harris, Claire Jones, Wendy Kline, Tracey Laughran, Virginie de Luca Barrusse, Helen McCarthy, Ben Mechen, Pauline Milani, Bibia Pavard, Anne-Françoise Praz, Stéphanie Roulin, Tiphaine Robert, Gabrielle Storey and Dawn Wibberley. I have presented parts of this research at different international con- ferences and seminars, including the American Association for the History of Medicine; European Society of Historical Demography; Graduate Institute, Geneva (Gender Seminar); University of Exeter (Sexpertise Conference); Society for the Social History of Medicine; University of Brussels (European Sexology Conference); University of Cambridge (Gender Research Seminar); Leuwen University (Social History Seminar); Institute of Historical Research, London (Women’s History Seminar); University of Cambridge (Reproductive Politics in France and the UK Conference). I am grateful for the comments I received from members of the audience. I am very grateful for the assistance of the librarians and archivists at the Wellcome Library, Archives du Planning Familial in Paris, and the Butler Library, Columbia University. Thank you to Thomas Dark, to Anthony Mercer and to Keir Wad- dington for support and advice during the publication process at Man- chester University Press, and to the anonymous peer reviewers who provided such thoughtful and constructive advice. Friendship has also helped me to survive long hours of solitary work at the library and moments of doubt. Thank you to Paz Irarrazabal, Ermioni Xanthopoulou,