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Stories

  • Long read

Primodos, paternalism and the fight to be heard

Journalist Florence Wildblood examines the case of Primodos – a conveniently quick but risky hormone pregnancy test that was prescribed in the 1960s and ’70s – and profiles two women at the story’s shocking heart.

  • Article

The search for a cure for endometriosis

Discover how a white American doctor’s experimental operations on black female slaves laid the foundations for modern gynaecological surgery.

  • Article

Taking the piss

Council cuts have created public-toilet deserts across the UK, limiting journeys and days out for people whose medical conditions mean toilet access is essential. Campaigner Kevin Crowe highlights the issues.

  • Article

Shame and how our bodies betray us

Embarrassment about our desires, bodies and bodily functions can silence us. Lucia Osborne-Crowley asks whether a low-level but constant sense of shame is stopping us getting the help we need.

All stories (5)

Images

  • A physician examining a pregnant woman's urine specimen in his library. Mezzotint.
  • A physician examining a urine specimen in which a faint figure of a baby is visible, a female patient is crying and being shouted at by her angry mother, indicating that she is pregnant. Watercolour by I.T., 1826.
  • A physician examining a urine specimen in which a faint figure of a baby is visible, a female patient is crying and being shouted at by her angry mother, indicating that she is pregnant. Watercolour by I.T., 1826.
  • A Dutch physician taking the pulse of a female patient, a urine flask in a wicker basket is on a table beside them. Engraving by P. Basan, 16--, after G. Ter Borch, the younger.
  • A Dutch physician taking the pulse of a female patient, a urine flask in a wicker basket is on a table beside them. Engraving by P. Basan, 16--, after G. Ter Borch, the younger.
  • Interior with doctor, assistant, old woman and girl. Oil painting by Egbert van Heemskerck.
  • Interior with doctor, assistant, old woman and girl. Oil painting by Egbert van Heemskerck.
  • A physician at the bedside of a young woman. Oil painting by Matthijs Naiveu.
  • A physician at the bedside of a young woman. Oil painting by Matthijs Naiveu.
  • Chinese Materia medica, C17: Plant drugs, Ginseng
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Catalogue

All works (34)