Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Natural Family Planning: Part 4: Tubal Ligation

Before I get to the actual theory and implementation of NFP (I will, I promise!) I need to slog through all the disturbing ways that women and men try to tear apart what God has put together.
Tubal Ligation is basically an operation that makes a woman sterile ("she has her tubes tied"). There are two procedures that are commonly performed. One is called a minilaparotomy. This is carried out after a small incision is made in the abdomen. The fallopian tubes are located and drawn outside the body where a portion of the tubes are removed and the ends are tied. During laparoscopy a woman's abdoman is inflated with either carbon dioxide or nitrous oxide gas. Next a fiberoptic light is inserted through the abdominal wall (sounds like fun... ouch...) and another instrument either coagulates the tubes with an electric current or places a band or clip on the tubes.

Alan Guttmacher Institute says that during the operation between 800 and 2,000 women, out of every 100,000, experience a major complication. Minilaparotomy patients suffer from infections, bladder injuries, bleeding from major blood vessels and burning of the bowel. And there are always the risk of anesthesia during operations.

Of Laparoscopy, Dr. H.P. Dunn states that patients have died from cardiac failure during the inflation procedure and that there is always a risk of hemorrhage or infection. Some women have suffered wounds to the bowel, bladder and large blood vessels and there have even been intraperitoneal explosions.

And then there are the long term risks. 22-37% of sterilized women report complications. These complications are apparently so common that they have their own name, "post tubal ligation syndrome." Dr. Vicki Hufnagel, a surgeon whose speciality is restoring women's reproductive organs, writes, "Many post tubal patients who come to my office seeking relief complain bittery of more severe cramps, heavier, longer periods, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, pain with intercourse and pelvic pain or pressure." In a British study it was found that 40% of women had an increase in menstrual blood loss and 26% had an increase in menstrual pain. Women who had been on the Pill before their operation had more complaints about pain then their non-Pill using counterparts.

A study by James G. Tappan looked at 8,000 women five years after their tubal ligations. 49% had heavier periods and 35% reported an increase in severe menstrual cramps. The risk of cervical cancer in a frightening study of 489 women was 3.5 times the normal rate.

There is also an increased risk in women who have had tubal ligation of a subsequent hysterectomy. In one study of 374 patients, 18.7% underwent a hysterectomy as a result of severe menstrual problems.

All of this sounds pretty terrible. I wonder how many women truly know what they're getting into when they sign the waiver to undergo this procedure. It's amazing how much pain and suffering men and women are willing to go to avoid the natural consequences of sex.

No comments:

Post a Comment

I love comments and I read every single comment that comes in (and I try to respond when the little ones aren't distracting me to the point that it's impossible!). Please show kindness to each other and our family in the comment box. After all, we're all real people on the other side of the screen!