Reproductive Health Milestone: First Successful Use of a Tool For a Less Painful IUD Implantation

2024 is The Beginning of the End of the Era of the Dreadful Tenaculum

Photo by Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition on Unsplash

You step into the cold, clinical room. The sharp smell of rubbing alcohol and latex slams you in the face, wrinkling your nose. You sheepishly look in. In the corner looms that dreaded chair in clinical teal. The stirrups are folded outwards, like open arms made of metal, ready to grab you. You steel yourself — it’s for your health.

You hope it isn’t like last time, with that weird, condescending doctor. You hope that this time your pain will be taken seriously. That he won’t roll his eyes when you express concerns about the effect of birth control hormones, the depression you feel around your PMS, or the number of times you’re doubled over in pain from cramps every period. You’re praying they’ll believe you. Or, even if they don’t, maybe they’ll prescribe something that actually works this time or, at least something that won’t make you more anxious.

You undress and shiver as the rough fabric settles on you and you sit on the thick, rough sanitary exam paper that lines that awful teal chair, trying not to think about the discomfort that is to come.