"Cycles of Clockwork Precision": Hormonal Contraception and Natural Menstruation.

Area of Science:

• History of Medicine
• Pharmaceutical Marketing
• Women's Health

Background:

• Hormonal products were initially used for menstrual irregularities before contraceptive development.
• The concept of a "natural" menstrual cycle is debated by medical historians.
• Early birth control pills aimed to regulate, rather than mimic, natural menstrual cycles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the concurrent development of the "natural cycle" notion and marketing strategies.
• To analyze the promotion of Sequilar, the first sequential birth control pill (Schering AG, 1974).
• To investigate how hormonal interventions influenced perceptions of menstrual cyclicity.

Main Methods:

• Archival research at the Schering AG Archive in Berlin.
• Analysis of internal company documents, including letters to doctors, brochures, and prescription guidelines.
• Historical analysis of pharmaceutical marketing and medical discourse.

Main Results:

• The development of hormonal products contributed to the idea of a regulated, "natural" menstrual cycle.
• Marketing strategies for Sequilar promoted this notion of a hormonally produced "natural cycle."
• Side effects associated with hormonal treatments became normalized as part of menstruation.

Conclusions:

• The pursuit of a "natural cycle" through hormonal means led to its naturalization and normalization.
• Pharmaceutical marketing played a key role in shaping perceptions of menstrual health and hormonal treatments.
• This historical analysis highlights the constructed nature of medical concepts and their societal impact.