You've come a long way, baby...

Ah...the intrauterine device. I know, it's a strange thing to blog about but there's a new IUD available to women and it's being billed as 99% effective. If you look to at the image I've added to today's post (yep...that's a new feature to the Good to Go blog, thank you very much) you can see that the IUD was a pretty medieval looking device.

Actually, the way it worked was pretty medieval as well. The idea of the IUD was to irritate the lining of the uterus to the point where no embryo could implant. Look at that little spider/crab thingy on the picture...I'm guessing that bad boy was one hell of an irritant. The early IUD's had to be surgically implanted, the women were subjected to all kinds of bleeding, pain, cramping and - if you were lucky - PID. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. My mom was out of commission for about a month with PID when I was nine. I remember it because she literally couldn't get off the couch and I got to make dinner for a couple of weeks.

Now, the IUD can be implanted in your OB's office...no hospitalization. It's plastic, springy and works a lot differently than the IUD's of old. The IUD blocks the fallopian tubes so that sperm can't get to the egg and fertilization can't occur. It's also a good way to prevent pregnancy without using hormones...a lot of women can't deal with the fluctuations in hormones that the pill or norplant can cause. It's important to mention that the IUD is only to prevent pregnancy. It's not for protection against sexually transmitted diseases or anything like that...but according to the newest version of the IUD, it's good 99.9% at preventing birth control.

I applaud the advancements with the IUD. It's a heck of a jump for women. Just another way for us to remain independent...and without infection. Go IUD's!