"Intrauterine devices (IUDs) were derived from what Marie Stopes (1924) called the interuterine devices, conceived for therapeutic purposes and used in later years for providing contraception. Because an interuterine device connects the external environment (vagina) with the internal genital tract, pelvic inflammatory disease was a frequent complication in an era when gonorrhea was endemic and no adequate therapeutic measures were available. To avert the inherent infective hazard, interuterine devices were replaced by IUDs. The IUD has had a troubled history. Initially ignored by the medical profession, it courted a flourishing period during the early 1930s, which soon came to an end due to largely non-medical reasons. The rehabilitation of intrauterine contraception started in the USA in the early 1960s, as a result of a change of mentality concerning the acceptability of birth control in general, the discovery of the phenomenon of the population explosion, and the introduction of improved IUDs. This review gives an overview of the evolution of intrauterine contraception, focusing on the scientists who were innovative in this field."