Media :
Availability:
Available to listen.
Last broadcast on Sunday, 11:50 on BBC World Service (see all broadcasts).
Synopsis
On 4 December 1961 the contraceptive pill became widely available in the UK.
For married women it meant reliable, convenient family planning - for unmarried women it meant sexual freedom.
The writer Michelene Wandor was a student at Cambridge university at the time.
PHOTO: Getty Images
Witness: Birth control in the USA
On 16 October 1916, the first birth control clinic in the USA was opened. The woman behind it, Margaret Sanger, was arrested for breaking obscenity laws
How the contraceptive pill changed Britain
The contraceptive pill has been called the greatest scientific invention of the 20th Century by some commentators. Arriving at a moment of social and political upheaval, it is now 50 years since it was made available on the NHS
Broadcasts
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Mon 5 Dec 201109:50
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Mon 5 Dec 201113:50
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Mon 5 Dec 201119:50
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Tue 6 Dec 201102:50
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Sat 10 Dec 201118:50
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Sun 11 Dec 201100:50
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Sun 11 Dec 201106:50
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Sun 11 Dec 201111:50
© 2011