‘Barbaric and inhumane’: Is it time gynaecological procedures came with pain relief?
by Becky Barnes
December 23, 2021
first published June 3rd, 2021
The Flock Magazine

““Barbaric” and “inhumane” are just some of the disturbing terms used by dozens of women who have bravely shared their stories with The Flock this week, relating to the insertion and removal of IUDs – a contraceptive device placed into the womb to prevent pregnancy – cervical biopsies, and hysteroscopies, a procedure to examine the womb.
The stories have a common theme: “excruciating” pain, due to not being given adequate painkillers, if any. People regularly report not feeling properly informed or listened to by medical professionals, and some patients even say they were laughed at or called hysterical when they were distressed.
Women now have the opportunity to share these experiences as evidence for a government survey, which promises to shape the future of female healthcare. The Women’s Health Strategy has already had more than 80,000 respondents and has been extended until June 13 to allow for more. Is this the chance women have been waiting for to make their voices, and their pain, heard?
‘Simple procedures’
When Lucy Cohen went to have a copper IUD fitted in May, she read on the NHS website that the procedure might be “uncomfortable…but you can take painkillers after, if you need to.” She asked her GP for painkillers and was told paracetamol “should be enough”.
However, the 38-year-old from Swansea found herself in “unbearable” pain as it took three attempts to fit the copper coil due to her tilted cervix, something that affects approximately one in five women.
“I have never felt pain like it. It was terrifying,” the accountant says. “I didn’t recognise the sounds coming out of my mouth.”
Cohen says she was left “lying on the sofa dumbstruck and sobbing” for a week after. As a self-proclaimed “over-sharer”, she decided to ask friends if they had experienced something similar. Overwhelmed by the responses, she decided to create her own survey asking people about their experiences with the insertion and removal of IUDs.
To date, more than 1,200 people have responded. Pain relief was not discussed with or offered as standard to 56% of the survey’s respondents, while 71% said they were not prepared for the reality of the procedure. An incredible 93% said they experienced pain, with 43% rating their pain in the top three of 11 options: “extremely painful”, “almost unbearable” and “excruciating”.
“There is a real problem here,” Cohen says. “Our findings highlight that people with uteruses are gaslighted in medicine. Our pain isn’t listened to.”
“Also, women aren’t taught to question things – they are just expected to grin and bear it. These issues are still taboo.””

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