Dr Natalie Crawford

And she had expelled the IUD on her own.

She had cramped it right out.

Uterus pushed it out of her body.

And it was extraordinarily painful.

And so we basically delivered the IUD on her back.

So do you know what an IUD is?

Ish.

That's one form of an IUD.

She had a different form, but she basically pushed out her own IUD.

It's an intrauterine device.

And it's shaped like a T. It is shaped like a T. Most is shaped like a T. In the UK, they use the coil still quite a bit, which is copper.

And so there's different options for the IUD.

Some contain progestin.

Some contain just the copper.

And so the way an IUD works is...

is that it creates an inflammatory response in the uterus so that the cervical mucus thickens so that when we are fertile in our fertility window, mid-cycle and jump in if I mess this up, the mucus of the cervix thins to the point where sperm can actually get through.

Most of the month, probably 85% to 90% of the month, the sperm cannot traverse the cervix.

So in our fertility window...

Right at ovulation, the cervical mucus thins and then the sperm can transmit.

So the presence of the IUD creates an inflammatory environment that will basically is toxic to sperm and thickens the cervical mucus where it becomes a plug.