In , 5. According to the Population Council, the popularity of IUDs in general declined after one IUD, the Dalkon Shield , gained media attention and was associated with higher risks of infection and maternal death in women who became pregnant while using the device.
The Dalkon Shield was recalled after three years on the market. Because of the difficulty of studying the exact mechanisms of birth control in humans , research on the exact mechanism of the copper IUD is scarce. That false assertion equates IUDs with early abortion and would thus be prohibited by the Catholic Church.
However, that assumption is not supported by empirical evidence. Rather, copper IUDs prevent the formation of embryos and cannot terminate an embryo. Our Bodies, Ourselves.
Connell, Elizabeth B. Dassow, Jeanie D. Management of Common Problems in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, Grimes, David A. Ortiz, Maria and Horacio Croxatto.
Population Council. Sivin, Irvin, and Janet Stern. Experience, Speroff, Leon. Clinical Guide for Contraception. What little research there was, was done on very brave—or desperate—women. Boy oh boy did scientists get creative. Importantly, some of these plastic devices contained copper, which, it was later discovered, makes for an effective contraceptive because it makes the uterus inflamed and releases ions that kill sperm. In January —50 years ago—the US Food and Drug Administration announced that paywall , after years of collecting data, it was ready to say IUDs were safe and effective.
US gynecologists began offering patients copper-ion IUDs. For the next 20 years, the most popular IUD was the Lippes Loop , invented in Buffalo, New York in , which looked like an anti-fertilization snake. The Shield, manufactured by the Virginia-based company AH Robins, looked something like a flattened pinecone and hit the market in Over the next two years, some , US women got one inserted.
Unfortunately, the device had a terrible design flaw: a braided string tied to the end, for removal later on. Only the progesterone T remained on the American market 5. The levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system Mirena was made available for use in the U.
The device is designed to prevent pregnancy for 3 years and targeted to women who have not had children. It will launch in February, 8. These days, the IUD is a safe, effective, low-risk form of birth control. According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, the proportion of women using long-acting, reversible contraceptive methods such as the IUD has risen from 2. One can hope these numbers keep climbing as more women become informed about their contraceptive options and have increased access to the best birth control for them.
This post was written by Megan Corbett, RN. Megan is an intern at the Reproductive Health Access Project. View More Posts on Topic. Your gift allows us to mobilize, train, and support clinicians across the United States so they provide reproductive health care.
References: 1. View More Posts on Topic Make a donation Your gift allows us to mobilize, train, and support clinicians across the United States so they provide reproductive health care. At one point in the '70s, nearly 10 percent of American women using contraception were choosing an IUD. But then, just as it had become the anti-pregnancy choice du jour among liberated women, one popular model turned out to be deadly. Enter: Dalkon Shield. Today just the name "Dalkon Shield" evokes collective wincing among a certain generation.
In the s, this crab-shaped IUD model was beginning to be linked with reports major health problems including pelvic inflammatory disease, septic abortions, infertility and even death. By July , there were 16 deaths linked to the device, according to the Chicago Tribune. The Washington Post cited more than , victims. The failure of Dalkon Shield would have consequences for decades to come.
Between and , the use of IUDs and other long-acting reversible contraceptives in the U. That year, updated devices came out that met new FDA safety and manufacturing requirements, but the damage had been done.
The shadow of the Dalkon Shield hung over the entire market, dissuading American women from even considering IUDs even as their popularity in Europe grew. Mary Jane Minkin , a clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at Yale School of Medicine, says that in the 80s, when she discussed contraceptive options with her patients, IUDs were not even considered as a remote possibility.
In , The Washington Post ran a story about a family planner from New Jersey working with IUD-using populations in Senegal, Nigeria and Kenya who herself had trouble finding an American physician willing to give her one. At that time, only 1.
Unlike other IUDs at the time, the string on the Dalkon Shield was made not of one filament but of many tightly wound filaments. As a result, some women got pregnant while wearing the devices, leading to septic abortions and, in some cases, death.
Inserting an IUD into a woman with an infection might have spread that infection, potentially leading to pelvic inflammatory disease, which can cause infertility.
After the controversy, all but one were pulled from the market by
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