Professor Daniel Matzer

But I think that there have been many other issues at play.

Women not really knowing much about IUDs or implants, not knowing what the benefits are besides contraception, because particularly the hormone containing IUD can be used to treat

heavy menstrual bleeding and endometriosis.

And it's very important that women understand what the benefits are besides contraception.

And then there's been a lot of issue around affordability and access and actually being able to get an IUD when you want one.

Well, I guess it gives practitioners more information to share with their patients when they're counselling them about insertions and the ability to explain to them that pain during insertion is highly variable and

and that only 20% of women who've had an IUD report severe pain.

I think that's a very comforting thing to tell women.

But of course, practitioners need to explain everything about the procedure and all the options that are open to the woman involved.

when she is having the IUD inserted to try and reduce pain as much as possible.

It actually hasn't been established properly in Australia yet.

We're very keen to create some consensus-based guidelines for practitioners about how to counsel women and what to do about pain during insertion.

But I think there are some basics...

that are probably agreed upon, which is around showing them what the device looks like.

Often as GPs, we have some of these in our rooms that we can actually put in a woman's hand so that it's not scary and she knows exactly what it is.

Explaining in detail what will happen during the insertion, explaining to her that the insertion can stop at any time.

if she feels that she can't proceed with it, and giving her the options that are available to help reduce the pain.

Yeah, I think for women who really don't want to go through the procedure and experience any pain, there is the option of sedation, but that requires a kind of an admission to a surgical setting where that sedation can be provided.

And that's quite hard to organise in a timely way for many women.

So explaining to them that the procedure itself is quite quick, probably takes about five minutes from the time that you start the procedure to the time that you finish.