Lybrel-Birth-Control.com

Why are you required to have at least one child to be eligible to use an IUD birth control method?

Are there more health risks if you've never had a child?

Public Comments

1. Women who are nulliparous (never been pregnant) have a much thicker, stiffer, inflexible uterine muscle wall than women who have had at least one full-term pregnancy. It is because of this that most doctors will NOT insert an IUD for a nulliparous woman. The consequences are often spontaneous expulsion (loss) of the device, or uterine puncture which can sometimes require an emergency hysterectomy and often emergency surgery (this was the case with me, and I DID have a baby), and often much more severe cramping. 20% of all IUD users will end up having their device removed before 12 months' time because of medical complications or severe side effects.
2. I believe this is mostly to do with the fact that the cervix changes after pregnancy, which I believe makes insertion easier, and may impact the rates of expulsion. Some of it also appears to be related to a correlation between IUD use and tubal infertility. Recent studies have shown that it isn't so much the IUDs causing infertility as it is STIs, and that younger women without children are statistically more likely to contract STIs. Some doctors will give a younger, nulliparous woman an IUD, but there are still many doctors who refuse.
3. Because to get the IUD into place, it has to go through your cervix. Your cervix is the thing up at the top of your vagina that covers the entrance to the womb. When you give birth (vaginally, not by c-section) this dilates to allow the baby's head to pass through. And then the infant's fat little head actually stretches it out more, so that a woman who has given birth has a less tight cervix. You can manually dilate the cervix to put in an IUD, and this is done regardless of whether or not you have children. From personal experience, this hurts like a mother, but it's supposed to be less painful if you've had a baby. You're also more likely to have the unpleasant IUD side effects of heavy menses (Copper-T)... and if you're single or nonmonogamous, many docs won't do an IUD just because it increases your risk of pelvic inflammatory disease. Whether or not a given doctor will give a nulliparous (never had a baby) woman an IUD is pretty much a matter of personal preference. They're much more common in Europe than here, and over there it's not nearly so much of an issue to obtain one. You can always seek out a second opinion.. there's no regulations or laws prohibiting you getting an IUD.
4. It is not required that you have child, it is simply required that your cervix has, at some point, been dilated to or beyond 5 cm. At least, this is the rule at the OB/Gyn office that I work at. Technically, you could have had a miscarriage or elective abortion, as long as your cervix has been dilated. We have several patients who have no living children, but were eligible for an IUD. This is due to the fact that the IUD is placed within the uterus through a tube that is roughly the size of a pencil. In order to fit this into the cervix, it has to have been dilated before. If you elect to have an IUD inserted, the doctor will first test your cervix with a uterine sound. This will let the doctor know if your cervix will open to accept the IUD and also how 'deep' your cervix is to let them know how far to insert the IUD.
5. I am 23, have never had children and have the mirena iud. There were no 'rules' about previously having a dilated cervix or anything like that. It hurt like a mother, has been there for 6mths and I would do it again in a flash.