Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Shocked doctors discovered a woman had inserted a metal spring into her vagina thinking it would act like a coil to stop getting pregnant.
The unnamed woman is already a mum-of-three and had attempted to prevent a fourth pregnancy using the bizarre DIY method, according to gynaecologist Fu Junhong.
It is suspected that she mistakenly believed any spring would act like an Intrauterine device (IUD), commonly known as a coil because the copper wire is coiled around the plastic.
It needs to be inserted by a doctor or a nurse and the copper is 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy.
But it is not the same thing as an ordinary metal spring, and not surprisingly the woman’s DIY method did not stop her getting pregnant for 1/4 time.
The medic with Minzhong Hospital in the city of Zhongshan, which is in South China’s Guangdong Province, revealed that the patient, 31, arrived heavily pregnant in her second trimester and requested an abortion.
When doctors were checking on the health of the baby, they then made the shocking discovery of the spring.
Doctor Fu, who treated the woman at the end of July, recalled: “She was five months pregnant and came to our hospital for an abortion procedure.
“During our checks, we found rings lodged between her vagina and cervix – it was a spring which had already been enveloped by her vaginal tissue.”
The spring measuring 5 centimetres (2 inches) across and was stuck in her body, and required emergency surgery to remove.
Doctor Fu continued: “She thought inserting a spring into her body would prevent further pregnancies.
“She found it on the floor of her workshop. She picked it up, gave it a wash and then inserted it. It is unclear what she does for a living.
“She did by herself about half a year ago. It was greatly unscientific, and very unhygienic.”
The medic added: “We couldn’t get it out during the operation, so our surgeons used a pair of pliers and cut the spring apart, and we removed it piece by piece.”
The coils were cut into seven individual pieces, which were extracted from the patient’s body in an operation lasting 40 minutes, the hospital said.
Doctor Fu said: “Fortunately, she suffered no tissue damage or infections, otherwise she’d have suffered a lot.”
The woman has already been discharged from hospital, but Doctor Fu did not say whether the mum continued with the abortion, which is only prohibited six months into a pregnancy, but allowed further along if required under special circumstances.
Doctor Fu advised the public to use “normal” birth control methods such as condoms or pills instead.
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