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Safety and Expulsion of Delayed Versus Immediate Postpartum Intrauterine Device Placement

Safety and Expulsion of Delayed Versus Immediate Postpartum Intrauterine Device Placement: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Status
Terminated
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01598662
Acronym
IUD
Enrollment
32
Registered
2012-05-15
Start date
2009-07-31
Completion date
2012-07-31
Last updated
2018-09-25

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Contraception

Keywords

IUD placement, contraception, postpartum, intrauterine device, expulsion

Brief summary

This is randomized controlled trial designed for pregnant women who deliver vaginally at the University of Louisville Hospital and desire to have an intrauterine device (IUD) inserted for postpartum contraception. After informed consent is obtained, eligible study participants will be randomized to receive the Mirena® IUD at the 6 week postpartum visit or within 10 minutes of delivery of the placenta following a normal vaginal delivery. The investigators seek to determine the expulsion rate and complication rate in subjects with IUD immediately after placental delivery compared to insertion at six weeks postpartum or later. The investigators hypothesize that immediate placement safe and has an acceptably low expulsion rate to merit earlier placement in the indigent population.

Detailed description

Unintended pregnancy occurs in nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States. There are many barriers to implementation of long-term reversible contraception in the immediate postpartum period. In our indigent population, a survey of patients showed that nearly 60% of patients who chose an IUD while admitted postpartum never returned for placement, placing them at risk for early repeat pregnancy. The intrauterine device is a safe and effective form of long-term reversible contraception when placed at 6 weeks postpartum or later with pregnancy rates of only 0.1%. The commercially available Mirena IUD contains levonorgestrel which is released slowly over five years, providing safe, reversible contraception and making menstrual flow much lighter. This randomized controlled trial will compare traditional placement at 6 weeks or more postpartum versus immediate post-placental placement. The investigators hypothesize that the expulsion rate of IUDs placed immediately postpartum will be acceptably low in an indigent population to still be cost effective. Studies from the world literature in Egypt and Mexico where IUDs are routinely placed immediately following placental delivery.support this hypothesis. A recent study published in 2010 by Chen et al. showed an approximately 24% expulsion rate. Six week postpartum IUD placement for contraception will be compared to immediate post-placental IUD placement, to determine whether immediate IUD insertion after delivery has an acceptably low rate of expulsion, infection, perforation and unintended pregnancy, and a high rate of retention, patient satisfaction, and maintenance of contraception.

Interventions

DEVICEMirena (levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system)

The Mirena IUD is a levonorgestrel-releasing IUD which contains 52 mg levonorgestrel total and releases 20 mcg of hormone daily.

Sponsors

University of Louisville
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
15 Years to 45 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

1. Patients must be 15- 45 years of age and received their prenatal care at the University of Louisville OB/GYN clinic 2. Planned vaginal delivery 3. Negative third trimester cultures for Gonorrhea and Chlamydia 4. Desire to use the IUD for contraception

Exclusion criteria

1. Uterine anomalies 2. Uterine or cervical neoplasia 3. Past or current breast cancer 4. Chorioamnionitis 5. Acute liver disease 6. Postpartum hemorrhage lasting greater than ten minutes or more than 500 mL blood loss 7. Received prenatal other than at the University of Louisville OB/GYN Clinic 8. Cesarean section

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
IUD Expulsion Rate6 monthsThe investigators wanted to compare the expulsion rate of IUDs between the two treatment arms: immediate placement after placental delivery and interval placement 6 weeks after delivery. IUD expulsion is confirmed by the inability of the physician to visualize the string attached to the IUD coming from the cervix.

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
IUD Insertion 6 Weeks After Delivery
Subjects randomized to interval placement will have their IUD placed in the office at six weeks postpartum or later.
11
Immediate Post-placental Insertion
Subjects randomized to immediate post-placental placement within 10 minutes of delivery will have an IUD placed
21
Total32

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000FG001
Overall StudyIUD expelled before month 602
Overall StudyLost to Follow-up1017
Overall StudyPhysician Decision12

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicIUD Insertion 6 Weeks After DeliveryImmediate Post-placental InsertionTotal
Age, Categorical
<=18 years
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Age, Categorical
>=65 years
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Age, Categorical
Between 18 and 65 years
11 Participants21 Participants32 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
11 participants21 participants32 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
11 Participants21 Participants32 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 110 / 21
other
Total, other adverse events
0 / 110 / 21
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 110 / 21

Outcome results

Primary

IUD Expulsion Rate

The investigators wanted to compare the expulsion rate of IUDs between the two treatment arms: immediate placement after placental delivery and interval placement 6 weeks after delivery. IUD expulsion is confirmed by the inability of the physician to visualize the string attached to the IUD coming from the cervix.

Time frame: 6 months

Population: 0 participants were evaluable in the Arm IUD Insertion 6 Weeks After Delivery, as 0 participants received an IUD at 6 weeks, and 2 participants in the Arm Immediate Post-placental Insertion were evaluable, as there were only 2 participants that came back for a follow up appointment.

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
IUD Insertion 6 Weeks After DeliveryIUD Expulsion Rate0 Participants
Immediate Post-placental InsertionIUD Expulsion Rate2 Participants

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026