Naga Munchetty has shared her “traumatic” experience of having a coil fitted as she highlighted issues around “how we look at all women’s health and pain”.
The television presenter said she fainted twice after experiencing “excruciating” pain while having the contraceptive device inserted into her body and was not offered any anaesthetic.
Munchetty told BBC Radio 5 Live she has a high pain threshold, but the procedure was “one of the most traumatic physical experiences I have had”.
"My screams were so loud that my husband tried to find out what room I was in to make it stop."@TVNaga01 tells her listeners about "one of the most traumatic physical experiences" she has ever had.
📻 @BBCSounds – https://t.co/7lXKKAi7px pic.twitter.com/Tr117sOyzx
— BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) June 21, 2021
“I’d gone through what the procedure involved with my GP,” she said.
“She was clear, patient and informative, so I thought I was prepared for a routine procedure.
“A nurse accompanied the doctor in the room that the fitting was to take place in.
“I’d been told to take a couple of paracetamol and ibuprofen in the hours before my appointment and I’ve never been pregnant, therefore my cervix up until then had never been opened.”
Her husband was in the waiting area to drive her home afterwards, she said.
“I won’t go into all the details, but my screams were so loud that my husband tried to find out what room I was in to make it stop,” she said.
“He said that those in the waiting room hearing my screams looked horrified.
“The nurse accompanying the doctor had tears in her eyes.”
Munchetty said she was asked by the doctor if she would like to halt the procedure, but she declined the offer as she was “determined that the pain I had suffered so far wouldn’t be repeated”.
A year later she had the coil removed as it “didn’t suit me, and the pain was again excruciating”.
“I fainted again and then I burst into tears of relief when I left the GP’s office,” she added.
“I felt violated, weak and angry.
“I have friends who have had very similar experiences and of course I have friends who had had no problem at all,” Munchetty said.
“What this is about is not the coil itself, we know it’s safe and effective.
“What this is about is how we look at all women’s health and pain.”
Munchetty said she had been motivated to speak on the issue after reading an article by writer Caitlin Moran in The Times newspaper about her experience of having an intrauterine device fitted.