The first time Devon Cantwell-Chavez had a long-lasting form of birth control inserted — an intrauterine device, or IUD — it was a smooth, painless experience. That was in 2018, through her gynecologist in Salt Lake City, Utah. Cantwell-Chavez was provided painkillers, along with a low dose of an anti-anxiety medication with sedative properties.
"It was a very easy experience," she recalled, "and I honestly don't remember it." A few years later, while pursuing her PhD in Ottawa, the 34-year-old needed to have her three-year IUD swapped out — and was told at a student sexual health clinic that she'd only need over-the-counter painkillers. Cantwell-Chavez was stunned.
She told the clinic's physician that she passes out during routine pap smears, and fought to get a letter of support from her gynecologist back home in the U.S. to include a sedative, as well.
The Ottawa team relented, but she said there was still a lot more pain with that procedure, with the clinic's on-site doctor later saying she was likely "making up the pain in her head." "It seems, more often than not, that's the response people get in Canada," she said. "It's frustrating that we continue to have paltry pain management options.
" The cross-border debate over how to best handle IUD insertions is heating up this week, after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released sweeping new guidance on pain management.
Now, for the first time, the CDC is encouraging health-care providers to co.