Museum for Contraception and Abortion

The museum for Contraception and Abortion (MUVS) in Vienna was founded in 2003 by DDr. Christian Fiala (born 1959), medical practitioner and gynecologist with experience in France, Asia (Thailand), Africa (Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi) and Austria. About his motivation he says: “As a doctor I can only reach and educate a limited number of people about their fertility and how to best deal with it. As a scientist and lecturer it is a bigger number, but only through the museum it is possible to spread the knowledge about reliable contraceptives and medically safe abortions on a global scale.”

The collection contains several subgroups of items donated by doctors, scientists, researchers and institutions. Their intention is to preserve interconnections between the individual objects, document stories of how they came to be, and illustrate the development of projects with the aid of specific items. For example the 'Snowdon Collection' includes 95 contraceptive coils, five books authored by Snowdon (including his thesis entitled 'Factors in the Use and Effectiveness of the Intra-Uterine Device, 1971; The IUD – A Practical Guide, 1977; The I.U.D.- A Woman's Guide, 1986; as well as five scientific papers. This collection also includes the minutes of meetings from the early history of the 'Women's Welfare Association' in Exeter, England – dating from 1930 to1965.