THE COIL – BALANCING RISKS AND BENEFITS – GENERAL INFORMATION
Certainly, once inserted, the woman has nothing more to do. Few women even check for the threads of the coil, although all are taught to do so. Most women, after the first few months of anxiety – how can such a tiny thing be effective? Has it got lost? Will the bleeding ever stop? – seem to forget that the coil is there, between periods, anyway. Menstruation is frequendy heavy, sometimes painful, sometimes preceded and followed by spotting or a brown discharge. Surprisingly, most women are content to put up with this, it seems to be natural, acceptable. It is a price they are prepared to pay. Indeed, sometimes the heavy bleed is seen as a letting out of bad blood, and therefore a good thing. There are women who are grateful that the long menstruation provides an excellent excuse for avoiding intercourse. Other women may return for a check because of a particularly heavy bleed, but if all is well clinically, they go away cheerfully. It is as though the regular, heavy, monthly bleed is actually reassuring – proof that the coil is there, proof that it, and the women themselves, are working.
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