Women deserve better care & pain relief for IUD placement, parliamentarians decide

A majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, wants the government to ensure that women have access to more pain relief options when getting an IUD. The parliamentarians also want better information and more guidance for women about the medical procedure, RTL Nieuws reports.

Health authorities in the United States recently adjusted their guidelines for pain relief at IUD placement after women took to social media to draw attention to the severe pain some women experience when getting the contraceptive.

In the Netherlands, women are still advised to take naproxen or paracetamol before the procedure. The Dutch College of General Practitioners (NHG) initially said that it would not follow the U.S. example and adjust its guidelines. But after a public outcry, the NHG said it would review its guidelines for IUDs and pain relief. It did not say when this would happen.

The Tweede Kamer wants the government to also “take more steps” to “make pain relief possible.” A majority supported a motion by GroenLinks-PvdA MP Elke Slagt to this effect. The motion also asks the government to improve the information and guidance for women to prevent women from “shying away because of fear of pain or trauma.”

Ava, a foundation that advocates for interests around abortion and contraception, is very pleased with the political attention for the topic but called the Kamer’s proposal too vague. “What does better information and guidance mean, for example? Strong cooperation with the professional groups involved is needed to arrive at a good pain protocol so that all women who have an IUD inserted are informed,” Alina Chakh of the foundation told RTL Nieuws. Chakh also points out that the motion says nothing about the financial accessibility of pain relief.

“Despite the uncertainty, we see the attention as a positive development in the process towards better pain relief,” Chakh said.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health told RTL Nieuws that it would look into how the Ministry can implement the motion as best as possible. “The NHG will look at the guideline again. The Minister does not have the authority to determine in which cases pain relief is offered.”