Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) has been described as a major female health issue for all of time. Around 1550 B.C.E., the Ebers papyrus recommended to rub the body of the patient with petroleum or with manure and honey to put the womb back in place. Hippocrates (460–377 B.C.E.) thought that the uterus acted as an animal unto itself. He recommended fumigations to stimulate the uterus to retreat.

Evolution of surgery was mainly related to anatomical knowledge and the beginning of anesthesiology. The first vaginal hysterectomy for uterine prolapse was reported by Choppin, of New Orleans, in 1861. In 1892, Zweifel of Germany, in his book, commented on his attempts to correct uterovaginal prolapse by using silkworm sutures to fix the upper vagina to the sacrotuberous ligament. In 1937 vaginal hysterectomy had become the predominant operation, but quickly, vault prolapse became a recognized complication. In 1927, Miller described the bilateral, transperitoneal iliococcygeus suspension for vault prolapse. In 1957, McCall, published his technique of obliterating the cul-de-sac of Douglas to cure an enterocele and prevent vault prolapse.