Naga Munchetty has revealed the pain she experienced during the fitting of her coil.
An intrauterine device (IUD) or coil can be put into the womb to prevent a pregnancy.
The fitting takes around five minutes and it can be taken out at any time by a trained healthcare professional.
The TV presenter decided to speak out on the issue on Radio 5 after reading an article in The Times with the headline Why we all need pain relief when having an IUD fitted.
The article focused on why people assume that women having their cervix “artificially dilated with a pair of metal barbecue tongs” will be “fine.”
Speaking on her experience, Munchetty revealed that this notion is far from reality.
The presenter told her listeners that her screams were so loud during the procedure that her husband tried to find out what room she was in, to make the operation stop.
She even recalled her nurse, who felt sorry for her, shedding tears.
“We all know that coils are safe and effective and lots of lots of women have no problem at all with them,” she explained, “but like all medical procedures, there’s a vast range of experiences.”
When she first got her coil inserted a few years ago, she said she fainted twice.
Although Munchetty did not get offered sedation or anaesthetic at any point to ease her pain, she insisted that her GP was “really great” and professional.
“She [my GP] said she couldn’t believe I had stuck with it. She said ‘most women just give up when it hurts that much’. She also said that she had felt terrible herself after my fitting,” she added.
Munchetty opted to have her coil removed a year later.
She said: “The pain again was excruciating. I fainted again, and then I burst into tears of relief.
“I felt violated, weak and angry. I have friends who have had very similar experiences, and of course I have friends who have had no problem at all. What this is about is not the coil itself. We know it is safe and effective.
“What this is about is how we look at all women’s health and pain.”
