Popularity Disparity: Attitudes About the IUD in Europe and the United States

Adam Sonfield - Guttmacher Policy Review
November 8, 2007

“Safe, Effective, Convenient
According to several experts interviewed for this article, the Dalkon Shield fiasco did not have nearly the impact in Europe that it had in the United States, largely because the Shield was rarely in use in Europe. Moreover, in contrast to the United States, where the IUD essentially disappeared from the market for an extended period, copper IUDs have been available in Europe without interruption for decades. And the newer, hormonal IUD, which was developed in Scandinavia, has been marketed for a decade or more.

Indeed, the number of IUD models available in Europe has continued to grow steadily as European researchers have worked to improve safety and efficacy and to mitigate side-effects.

Today, the scientific consensus is that IUD excels on all three accounts. Viveca Odlind, a medical expert with the Swedish national agency that regulates drugs and devices, suggests that this consensus may be easier to accept in Europe than in the United States because of the difference in experience with the method.

“It’s a tough journey to go from zero to something, if you have that bad reputation to carry,” she says of the United States.”

“Beyond improvements in training, reproductive health experts may need to work toward improved media coverage of the IUD.This is an always uncertain endeavor, considering the prominent role of the media in first promoting and then tearing down a series of contraceptive methods—from the pill to the implant to the patch. Educating the public directly, through government- and nonprofit-supported campaigns, may be another, albeit expensive, option.”