Coil procedures: Exploring negative experiences through qualitative research (an interview with Sabrina Pilav)

Summary

In this interview we talk to Trainee Clinical Psychologist, Sabrina Pilav, about her latest research project exploring negative experiences of coil/ intrauterine device (IUD) procedures.

Sabrina explains how their in-depth qualitative methodology could contribute to improvements in the future and shares details of how people can participate.

Questions & Answers

Hi Sabrina, can you introduce yourself and what you do?

I'm Sabrina, a final year doctoral researcher at Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Trust, training to become a clinical psychologist. My area of interest is primarily women's health, including physical and mental health, gynae and maternity. I've previously published papers on ethnic minority women's experiences of, and barriers to, perinatal mental health services.

My personal aims are around providing equity of care and reducing inequalities to ultimately provide all women with safe and positive experiences of healthcare services across the lifespan.

Why did you decide to research coil procedures?

In recent years, a lot of women have been coming forward and reporting very difficult experiences of coil procedures. While there have been numerous articles on this in the media and other online publications, there has been little formal research. We wanted to add this to the existing body of evidence.

Existing research also focuses largely on quantitative experiences of coil/IUD procedures, for example measuring levels of pain. We are interested in finding out about all of the reasons women are having negative experiences, as someone could also experience less pain but still find the experience distressing. There are few qualitative studies and none focusing solely on negative experiences of UK women. 

What do you hope to explore and how?

Our research team includes people with lived experience, and we are keen to explore women’s negative experiences of coil/IUD procedures in greater depth. To do this we will ask them to talk us through the procedure and to discuss factors that may have affected their experience, such as patient-practitioner relationship.

Who do you need to participate?

We are looking for women of all ages (minimum of 16 years old) that have had a coil/IUD procedure (insertion or removal) that they found distressing. The procedure needs to have taken place in the last 2 years (we are making some exceptions for up to 3 years if memory is strong) as our pilot study found that recalling the detail is difficult beyond this.

How can people volunteer to participate?

The quickest way to register interest is through the following link which sends you to our participant information sheet which has more detail about our study.

Register your interest

If you would prefer to email me directly, I'm available to contact and happy to answer any questions or set up a call: s.pilav@herts.ac.uk

What are the next steps?

We will be recruiting until early next year. Following that we will write up the study and hope to prepare for publication over the summer of 2024.

How do you hope this will improve women's experiences of IUD procedures?

We hope this will lead to increased awareness for both women and practitioners. We aim to use the results to help formulate guidelines to improve women’s future experiences of coil/IUD procedures.

Will you keep us posted on the findings?

Absolutely. While we cannot share findings while they are awaiting publication, we would be happy to disseminate once the study is published and provide a short summary of the key findings.

Related reading

• We must validate the painful experiences of many women using intrauterine devices
• The pain of my IUD fitting was horrific…and I’m not alone
• The ripples of trauma caused by severe pain during IUD procedures  
• BMJ Deep Breath In podcast: Fitting IUDs with Rebekah Fenton
• Medical trauma from IUD fitting: it’s not just five minutes of pain for five years of gain
• Naga Munchetty describes her painful experience of having an IUD fitted

Join the conversation on the hub

Have you had a contraceptive device fitted (also known as an IUD or coil)? What was your experience like, did you feel any pain? Perhaps you are a healthcare professional who can add clinical insight?

Please share your thoughts via the hub’s community conversation Pain during IUD fitting.