Some U.S. clinics offer routine sedation for IUD pain, saying it ‘shouldn’t feel traumatizing’ [Video]

The pain has been described as agonizing, searing and excruciating.

Having a highly effective contraceptive called an intrauterine device (IUD) inserted can cause significant discomfort for some people, and a growing chorus of health-care professionals and patients has been calling for better pain management during the procedure.

Now, a Planned Parenthood location in the U.S. has made headlines for announcing it will start offering routine sedation to patients during IUD insertions and removals, explaining that accessing reproductive health care shouldn’t invoke fear, and that the procedure “shouldn’t feel traumatizing.” 

But as some people applaud the move, the president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) says routine sedation has the potential to limit access to a highly effective form of contraception.

While sedation can be offered to some patients here who can’t tolerate the insertion in an office setting, it requires more monitoring, emergency services and an outpatient surgical suite or an …