Would I know I had coil fitted during an emergency c section?

[Bumpy123]

I was recently reviewing my dischage notes from my emergency c section I had in January. My notes say that I had a long acting reversible contraception inserted during this procedure. While the doctors are confirming with the hospital if this is the case AIBU to not know that I've been fitted with a coil?

AIBU: Yes, surely I should feel it.
AINBU: You should be able to feel it. It's probably an error in your notes.

Thanks.

@Bumpy123 surely the question is more, did you ask for any contraceptive device to be fitted? And if not, who fitted it and why?

You wouldn't be able to feel it inside you

It's absolutely shocking that they did this without explicit consent though, which is what I presume you mean?

I'd be straight in touch with PALS wanting an explanation. They've either put it in without consent or made an error with the information in your discharge letter, both of which need flagging

The options are no use - YANBU not to know if you had this done, but you should be able to feel the metal strings if you check in your vagina.

They WBU to do this if you didn't discuss it first!!!

You definitely wouldn’t be able to feel it OP, I have had a coil and other than the brief few minutes when I was having it inserted I was completely none the wiser. If this wasn’t something you explicitly asked for in advance then absolutely chase this with the hospital.

Did you ask for it to be fitted?

You can't feel a coil but you should absolutely be able to feel the strings which hang into the vagina.

Thanks for the responses. I didn't give consent for a coil to be fitted and will be taking action regarding either the lack of consent or mistake on my medical notes. It's more that I've never had a coil before so wouldn't know if it was obvious if one was there or not.

No it wouldn’t be obvious at all

I really cant see how this could happen - it was an emergency so there wouldn't have been a spare IUD hanging around the operating theatre.
Also, surely this would have come up at your 6 week postpartum check up - isn’t contraception always discussed?

Most women who’ve had one can feel the strings if you insert a finger into your vagina and have a feel. However I appreciate this may feel strange and you won’t know what you’re feeling for! Agree with others, contact PALS you need to ascertain for certain if you have one especially if you didn’t consent

See if you can feel the threads of it up by your cervix. They should be easily felt.

If you put your finger up there, you should feel the strings, if one has been fitted. However, it's possible for them to move, and the strings disappearing is one thing you need to go to Dr to investigate, so not feeling strings doesn't 100% mean they didn't fit one. I think they need to do an ultrasound to check if it's there and if so, the position.

Thanks, I realised yesterday evening and contacted my GP who are writing to the hospital. By the sounds of it it is possible to have one fitted and not notice the strings. I wanted to gather more information before doing anything with PAlS.

Unfortunately errors in birth notes are really, really common. I'd guess it's an error if you had an emergency section. My understanding is that they won't fit contraceptive devices during emergency sections even if you have requested one.

I’ve had two coils and never felt strings. But this is a red herring.
The real question is why you’ve been given this without consent. This is serious and you need to contact PALS asap. Unless there is something else at play here like you have diminished mental state etc/ learning disabilities and someone else has a medical POA? Is this the case?

You can go a sexual health clinic that fits them to check, I would want to know asap. That's shocking.

My 6 week check was a bit crap to be honest. The doctor clearly didn't read my discharge notes as a good deal of time was spent discussing my future contraception, including different forms of coils. I had to ask the doctor to examine my scar.

To answer your question- no, I don't feel my coil at all. Once it was fitted, neither me nor DH ever had any idea it was there.

I had a trial by forceps in the operating theatre so gave consent for a c-section if required. Neither my husband or I have any recollection of this or it being discussed at all. I imagine it is an error that will need to be corrected. If its not an error then I will get to the bottom of how they fitted it without my consent.

Nope I was with it the whole time. Neither me or my husband remember it being discussed.

I had one fitted (planned) during my c section. Because your uterus shrinks a lot after birth the strings had to be trimmed, and they arranged for me to be scanned a few months later to make sure it was still correctly in position- don’t know if that’s standard everywhere though!

Thanks, that makes me feel a bit better.

I have no experience if a coil but if you didn’t either request it or consent to it then tell your GP you want to see the medical record showing who made the decision and their reason for it.

If you have a coil put in during c section they often retract back up into the uterus during the post delivery contractions. So you can’t feel them. Never felt mine after my c section.

The hospital I had my baby at said they got coils at elective c sections but not en emergencies…hopefully it’s an error on your notes.