Thank you to the Chicago Tribune for today’s video. Meet Ellen Hanrahan and her daughter, Leena. Despite Bayer’s promises of near 100% efficacy, Ellen, an Essure user, still got pregnant. Various studies show Essure’s failure rate as closer to 10%, roughly 15 times that of tubal ligation.
Thank you to the Chicago Tribune for today’s video. Meet Ellen Hanrahan and her daughter, Leena. Despite Bayer’s promises of near 100% efficacy, Ellen, an Essure user, still got pregnant. Various studies show Essure’s failure rate as closer to 10%, roughly 15 times that of tubal ligation.
Ellen’s Essure story began in April 2010 when she was implanted with Bayer’s “permanent” birth control device, Essure. Approximately nine months later, Ellen began experiencing exhaustion and was feeling poorly. She said, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was pregnant.”
It turns out that she was pregnant. There is a three-month window after implantation during which it’s necessary to continue using standard birth control. It takes about three months for scar tissue to form in the fallopian tubes, which is what causes sterilization. At three months, patients undergo a confirmatory test to determine if the tubes are occluded. Ellen should have been “permanently” sterile for about six months by the time she became pregnant.
It wasn’t an easy pregnancy. As happens with many Essure pregnancies, Ellen went into pre-term labor at 29 weeks (the number of weeks in these cases varies, but is almost always near the 7-month mark). She spent some time in the hospital and labor was stopped.
Over the next 10.5 weeks, Ellen was frequently in the hospital due to pre-term labor. On January 24, 2012, doctors induced labor and Ellen gave birth to Leena, a happy, healthy 8 pound, zero ounce baby girl. Ellen is concerned for Leena’s continuing health as very little research has been done regarding Essure’s effect on “E-babies” as they’re called. Ellen’s own health continues to be fair, with some minor complications from the Essure coils she still has implanted. Follow-up tests show that the coils are still in place and that Ellen should not have conceived.
I’m pleased that Ellen’s story has a happy ending. Many E-pregnancies do not end so happily. There are miscarriages and still births causing families to suffer a loss no one should face. While still in its own infancy, some people are researching the potential negative effects of Essure on the E-babies who do survive. Some of these children are exhibiting health issues indicative of possible heavy metal poisoning. This is an issue I continue to follow.
Bayer and the FDA, along with several doctors, continue to promote Essure as a safe birth control method. Over 25,000 women beg to differ. Essure is an appealing alternative, if one listens to its proponents. However, if one listens to its victims, it becomes clear that traditional tubal ligation or, even better, vasectomy is the much safer and more effective route.
Search this blog for more information on Essure. You can also visit the Essure Problems website or their Facebook group. There is also a Facebook group for men, Mad Men of Essure, who have E-sisters in their lives.
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