A History of Family Planning in Twentieth-Century Peru

Adding to the burgeoning study of medicine and science in Latin America, this important book offers a comprehensive historical perspective on the highly contentious issues of sexual and reproductive health in an important Andean nation. Raul Necochea Lopez approaches family planning as a historical phenomenon layered with medical, social, economic, and moral implications. At stake in this complex mix were new notions of individual autonomy, the future of gender relations, and national prosperity.

The implementation of Peru's first family planning programs led to a rapid professionalization of fertility control. Complicating the evolution of associated medical services were the conflicting agendas of ordinary citizens, power brokers from governmental and military sectors, clergy, and international health groups. While family planning promised a greater degree of control over individuals' intimate lives, as well as opportunities for economic improvement through the effective management of birth rates, the success of attempts to regulate fertility was far from assured. Today, Necochea Lopez observes, although the quality of family planning resources in Peru has improved, services remain far from equitably available.

History of Family Planning in Twentieth-Century Peru
Raul Necochea Lopez is assistant professor of social medicine and adjunct assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
A wonderful achievement and a welcome addition to the scholarly literature on reproduction, gender, the state, society, and governance in modern Latin America.--Canadian Journal of History

An ambitious book that approaches sweeping questions of public health and population growth in Latin America through the history of family planning in twentieth-century Peru.--American Historical Review

Contributes to the histories of Latin America, medicine, and sexuality and reproduction. Of particular interest to scholars should be Necochea's revelation of the centrality of individuals, their relationships, and the emotions implicated in these in the development of family planning initiatives.--Bulletin of the History of Medicine

The author successfully navigates . . . overlapping layers of social, political and economic interest, and interprets Peruvian experience in its particularities but also within the patterns that emerged in Latin American-U.S. relations. . . . A highly engaging contribution to the robust yet growing recent literature on the social history of medicine in Latin America.--Medical History

This excellent study presents the complexity of the subject of family planning.--Journal of Interdisciplinary History