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The Primary Care Women’s Health Forum (PCWHF) has issued a statement acknowledging the experiences of women who have recent reported severe pain when having an intrauterine device (IUD) fitted. The PCWHF is clear that no-one should experience intolerable pain.
The PCWHF strives to ensure clinicians are skilled and confident in women’s health practice to make sure women receive the best care, are informed and supported throughout their lives, whatever their health needs.
PCWHF Chair, Dr Anne Connolly MBE commented: “We, at the PCWHF, our Board of Directors and Members are disappointed to hear the terrible experiences of women recently reported in the press. No-one should experience intolerable pain during an IUD insertion, or any other procedure, and feel that they have no voice to express their experiences. Women’s experience of the IUD insertion process can vary from mild discomfort upwards, and it is important that they feel comfortable to raise any pain concerns and receive the most appropriate care and pain relief for them.
“Clinicians take great care to ensure they are fully trained and confident in the insertion process. They offer women informed choices over their contraception, deliver contraception counselling, support women through the insertion procedure, and are trained to know when something is intolerable.
“Long acting reversible contraception, like IUDs, are extremely effective and an acceptable choice of contraception used by millions of women across the world. They give women control over their bodies and their choice whether to get pregnant. Much work has been done over the years to support women to make long-term contraception choices. We hope that the recent experiences of women will not prevent others from choosing this type of contraception.
“At the PCWHF, we drive women’s health information and training for clinicians. During the Covid-19 pandemic we produced a range of multimedia resources supporting clinicians to help women receive their long acting reversible contraception in a Covid-secure way.
“Next week we will be holding a FREE webinar for clinicians on Optimising IUD/S insertions to equip fitters with all the tools they need to support and counsel nervous patients to ensure women are confident and comfortable throughout the procedure. Expert training and maintaining of skills are essential to clinical best practice and ensuring the best experiences for women.
“We will continue to ensure clinicians are trained and women are heard to drive the best possible healthcare for the women in our clinics.”