Over 100 women got pregnant with Ballerine IUD; Health Min. advises getting alternative

Many more women have become unexpectedly pregnant despite having a Ballerine IUD than was previously known, according to research bay the AVROTROS programme Radar. It doesn’t concern five cases as registered by the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate, but over 100 and possibly more. Radar will focus on the Ballerine IUD in a broadcast on Monday.

Women who still have a Ballerine IUD to prevent pregnancy and who are concerned about this would do well to discuss this with their house doctor or a specialist. They can have the Ballerine IUD removed and replaced with an alternative, Minister Fleur Agema of Public Health said to the program.

Women who become pregnant while on the IUD can report this to the Reporting Point and Expertise Center for Side Effects of Implants. However, reporting is voluntary, and people may not know about it.

The manufacturer also does not have to report the IUD not working to prevent pregnancy to the Inspectorate either because pregnancy is an “expected side effect” of the medication. This is also stated in the package insert. Partly because of this, it is unclear how reliable the Ballerine IUD really is.

The Ballerine IUD is no longer used in the Netherlands. It is not known how many women still have the contraceptive implanted.