About your coil fitting appointment

Your appointment is for half an hour

What to do before your coil appointment

• Please make sure that you have something to eat before your appointment.
• The fitting process can be uncomfortable and you may wish to take a tablet painkiller that is safe for
  you, an hour or so before the procedure.
• It is important that there is no chance you could be pregnant when we fit your coil. Do not have sex
  from the start of your period until the insertion, unless you are using a method of contraception
  reliably and consistently.
• If you are having a coil exchanged for a new one, you should not have sex for 7 days before the
  appointment if your coil is in date. If your coil is out of date you should not have sex for 21 days (3
  weeks) before the appointment so that a pregnancy test is valid.
• It is OK to have a coil fitted if you are bleeding; please attend your appointment as usual.

Having a coil fitted

• Before you have a coil fitted, you will have an internal examination to find out the size and position of
  your womb. This is to make sure that the coil can be put in the correct place. An internal
  measurement is made of the length of the womb and then the coil is inserted.
• It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to insert a coil. The vagina is held open, like it is during a cervical
  screening (smear test), and the coil is inserted through the cervix and into the womb.
  If necessary, a local anaesthetic can be applied although for most women this is not necessary.
  Entonox (‘Gas and Air’) is also available if required. Please note that you should not use Entonox if
  you have recently had a ‘burst eardrum’ or within 48 hours of scuba diving and that if you are driving
  yourself home you should make sure you feel competent to drive and that it is at least 20 minutes
  since you stopped using the Entonox.
• Occasionally patients feel nauseous or faint afterwards and you may wish to consider bringing
  someone with you to accompany and drive you home. You are likely to get some bleeding after the
  procedure so please bring a sanitary pad with you. Most women experience some period-like
  discomfort for 24-48 hours after fitting, but then it usually settles.

For more information

For more information about the IUD/IUS in general, look at:
www.sexwise.fpa.org.uk/contraception/iud-intrauterine-device
www.sexwise.fpa.org.uk/contraception/ius-intrauterine-system

If you cannot make your appointment

Please ring us on 0300 303 2880, select option 1. If you are late for your appointment it may not be
possible to see you and you would need to reschedule your appointment for another day.