A copper spiral and then pregnant: 'I still thought: it just can't be'

« Something in my body said: that spiral is not right. For example, he seemed to be stuck during sex.  » Jasmijn Gill'ard (now 22 years old) went to the doctor in 2021. « The doctor then took a look. Not with an ultrasound, but just with a duckbill. He said the copper spiral was still fine. Three months later I was pregnant. « 

No form of contraception is 100 percent safe, but the copper spiral does offer « in more than 99 percent of cases » protection against unwanted pregnancy, various healthcare providers report online. Also according to it Dutch GPs Society (NHG) the chance of getting pregnant with an IUD, both hormone and copper, is negligible. Less than 0.5 percent per year, with 'good use', becomes undesirable pregnant, the NHG states in the contraceptive guideline. That would amount to five pregnancies on a thousand women. But from research from the television program Radar On Monday it appears that this number is higher with certain copper spirals.

A coil is a contraceptive that in recent years, against the trend of less contraception, has gained in popularity. It is a small 'anchor' that is placed in the cervix. It prevents a 'strange body reaction' that a fertilized egg can nest there. A hormone spiral gradually releases hormones, while a copper spiral releases copper, causing sperm to 'paralyzed'.

Implants

Side effects on all implants, such as a copper spiral, can be reported to the Reporting point and expertise center side effects implants (MEBI), part of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. From « groin fracture mats and artificial lenses » to breast implants and copper spirals. Hormone spirals can, says Mebi, also be a medicine and therefore do not fall exclusively in this category. Since its foundation, a total of 157 reports have been made of unwanted pregnancy with specific copper spirals. Research from Radar It appears that 115 can be traced to one brand: the Ballerine spiral.

Between 2019 and 2021, that spiral was placed with around eight thousand women. That means that the number of pregnancies, given the percentage of the NHG, should be around forty. There have been worries about the Ballerine spiral for some time, since caregivers rang the bell in 2021 and Radar Then already made a broadcast about this contraceptive. The sale was then stopped. Healthcare providers spoke about a remarkably high amount of pregnancies and 'expulsions', in which the spiral drops from the cervix.

My spiral experience is now five and a half years old

The number of pregnancies, both in the ballerine and other copper spirals, is probably higher, indicates the Mebi. Reporting about side effects with an implant is not mandatory – not for the patient nor for the care provider.

The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) does not see these reports, and gets much less in it. That is because she only receives reports from manufacturers, who only have a reporting obligation for serious incidents that 'not in accordance with the expectation', says an IGJ spokesperson. « It sounds crazy, but in the case of contraception that can be a pregnancy. » A possible pregnancy is stated in the package leaflet. About expected side effects is only a reporting obligation with « a significant increase in the number of reports or their seriousness ».

Lifeless

Minister of Health Fleur Agema (PVV) has Radar let them know that « she will see again whether it is necessary to report all the side effects to the inspection, including those in the package leaflet ».

Radar has conducted a survey among 6,500 women following the figures from Mebi. This shows that two in three women feel 'not taken seriously' when it comes to complaints about the IUD. They continue to walk around unnecessarily with 'misunderstood complaints'.

Jasmijn Gill'ard, for example, after placing her copper spiral, from the Flexi-T300 brand, suffered from extreme period complaints and therefore became tired and lifeless. « When I went to the doctor, I didn't know it was my spiral. The doctor had punctured my blood and gave vitamins, but I found out that this came to the spiral because of my reaction. In the end I still have anemia and an iron deficiency left over. « 

In a video on Tiktok from December last year Talk 25-year-old Michelle Elise About her pregnancy with a copper spiral: « I didn't think it is possible, I have a spiral: I still hear it say, » she says in the video.

But it is possible. And from the many reactions of women under her video, Michelle Elise and Jasmijn Gill'ard are not the only ones. « I have experienced the same thing, I am now 35 weeks pregnant, » someone responds. Another: « Third pregnancy through the spiral, next time the pill. » Women who became pregnant with a hormone spiral also respond. « My spiral experience is now five and a half years (old). »

Beautiful family

It is again clear that the view of the quality and safety in the care is short, a spokesperson for the Patient Federation Nederland says. Not only should it be clearer which coins work well « in the prevention of a pregnancy », it should also be clearer which caregiver a coil is placed in the right way.

At first she thought her childhood was over, Jasmijn Gill'ard says, but afterwards she is happy. « My son, which is now one and a half years old, has ensured that I see the beautiful, small things in life again after a long period of fatigue through my spiral. This was the path that I had to walk: I now have a very beautiful family. « 

Gill'ard now advises her girlfriends to always go to a specialist if those questions or are worried about contraception. « And also: if you feel that something is wrong in your body, you are always right. »

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