Unfortunately my coil fell out. I became pregnant at 43 after being told by my gynaecologist that a mirena would be safer and more reliable..
All my life I had been on the pill, but when I was no longer in a long term sexual relationship I decided to stop for a few years. Then I met the man of my dreams and we used condoms for the first few years.
At one of my regular gynae visits, my gynae rightly asked me what contraception I was using and I said condom or the pull out method.
Since I was 42 and it was really not the time to get pregnant he suggested I should use a more effective method and a safer one. He recommended the Mirena IUD.
I had heard good and bad things about it, so I discussed this with my partner, did some research and decided it would be a good idea. My partner thought I shouldn’t do it because for him he wasn’t keen on the idea of me having this foreign thing inside me emitting hormones that might effect my health. I insisted that I had done my research and that he had nothing to worry about – I’d be fine – actually it would probably improve my health as there are also some benefits.
I went ahead and had the Mirena inserted. It was painless but I remember bleeding a lot for the first few weeks, then it stopped and my partner and I enjoyed carefree and condom free sex for the first time in our 8 year relationship.
It felt great, really, the sex was amazing, as a woman I felt liberated and worry free and felt I could totally relax and not worry about getting pregnant. Something I had never felt whilst using the pill, there was always a niggling worry at the back of my mind and I always also insisted on my partners wearing condoms.
A few months later I got what I thought was a heavy period. I was going through some stress at work, so I put it down to stress and didn’t think anything more about it.
Of course after a week or so the period stopped and life continued as normal.
Until I started feeling nauseaus and always hungry. This was really strange I thought maybe it was a weird tummy bug, then I thought maybe I’m pregnant but how can it be I have the Mirena coil, then I’d feel better, so I would stop worrying.
Then I started to feel my boobs hurting and I thought maybe I would do a pregnancy test just in case to be sure, but how could it be….I just can’t be….I must be imagining. I started to read up one night and started to realise that Mirena coils can fall out and that women can get pregnant without realising. I was in total shock!
How the hell didn’t my gynae warn me about this possibility? Why wasn’t I told to check the strings of my Mirena regularly to ensure it was still in place? Why wasn’t I warned that if I suddenly start getting my period again after a time without periods, that possibly the Mirena had fallen out? Why wasn’t I given a booklet and information about what to look out for to ensure I don’t get pregnant unexpectedly without even realising?
I was furious! I was angry because all my life I had been careful and now at 43 after putting the Mirena to protect me from pregnancy I could be pregnant! I’m prolife! I don’t agree with abortion! It’s against all I believe in….what the fuck was I going to do if I was actually pregnant?
I took a pregnancy test first thing the next morning. It was positive. My coil fell out! I cried and cried, my partner said it was going to be alright, its no big deal we’ll just have a baby. He was very supportive, but I just didn’t want to have a baby at 43, I was scared for my own well-being, my own mental health. I didn’t want to risk the happy life I finally had, and my job and my worries of having a child with issues, because at 43 the risk of fetal anomalies is greater. I couldn’t handle having a child at 43 – I just couldn’t.
The rest is my personal journey and a personal choice that I took with the support of my partner. It’s nobody’s business. But I’m writing this here to make sure that all of you who have your Mirena know that it can move, it can fall out and you can get pregnant.
My coil fell out and so can yours. Check your strings regularly and if you suddenly start bleeding go to your gynae right away to check what’s going on don’t leave it to chance – you could be pregnant.
