Vancouver doctor concerned long IUD wait times will lead to unintended pregnancies

A doctor in Metro Vancouver is raising concerns about wait times for intrauterine devices, more than a month after the province announced free prescribed birth control.

The province said it would cover some prescription contraceptives starting April 1, including oral hormone pills, subdermal injections and implants, Plan B — also known as the morning-after pill — and copper and hormonal intrauterine devices, or IUDs.

Dr. Renee Hall, medical co-director at Willow Clinic in Vancouver and medical director for women's services at Kelowna General Hospital, said while doctors applaud the announcement, there aren't enough physicians to meet calls for IUD insertions. 

More patients are turning to women's clinics for these services, she said, demand for which has been increasing since April — and she's concerned the longer patients wait to get an IUD, the more unintended pregnancies there will be.

According to Hall, an IUD insertion appointment can typically take between five and 30 minutes. 

Her team at Willow Clinic tries to keep wait lists for those appointments between one to two weeks. But today, the wait is at least two months, she said, and she's hearing from other clinics in B.C. that they are seeing similar wait times.

"When people have made a decision that they would like to switch to a particular birth control, the longer that they have to wait for it, the more at risk they are ... of an unintended pregnancy, while they're waiting to get the one that they think would best fit their lifestyle and their needs," she told CBC News.

Hall said she has seen patients come in for an IUD insertion appointment and discovered they were pregnant.

She's also seen patients looking for abortion services, including at Willow, after getting pregnant while on the wait list.

"We're concerned that it's going to happen increasingly as our wait lists go up to insert IUDs around the province," she said.

"I'm so happy that we have free contraception as of April 1. But increasing access, it also means more than just getting a free IUD in a box — we need to get them out of the boxes and into people's uteruses."

Hall said more funding for women's health services and contraceptive care is needed, and that doctors need more than the MSP fees they receive to cover expenses related to IUDs, including incentives to get more doctors trained in providing the service. 

In a statement to CBC News, Doctors of B.C. said it is discussing the issue with the province, together with B.C. Family Doctors.

"We are all committed to working quickly to ensure that people have access to the physician services required for safe and effective contraception, including IUDs and contraceptive implants," they said in a statement.

"But we must also ensure adequate funding and support continues for doctors and clinics that provide this care to ensure the free contraception strategy works for B.C. patients."

The health ministry said it is aware of the issue.

"With regards to the increase in demand for IUD insertions and health-care providers available and trained to perform them, we are aware of this issue and are in active discussions with Doctors of B.C. and B.C. Family Doctors to work together on a solution," the ministry said in a statement, adding it is focused on the training, recruitment and retention of health-care workers.