The Life Of Bryony - The Life of YOU: Naga Munchetty on Coil Pain, Breaking Taboos & Speaking Up

Episode Date: May 9, 2025

QUICK SURVEY – TELL US WHAT YOU'RE LOVING: We’re running a short survey to get to know you better—so we can keep making the kind of episodes you actually want to hear. Takes 2 mins, promise: https://ex-plorsurvey.com/survey/selfserve/550/g517/250305?list=3 Welcome to The Life of YOU! The bonus series where we tackle your dilemmas and share advice to navigate life’s trickier moments. This week, Naga Munchetty is back to answer your listener questions. Today: 💬 Sorcha fainted during her IUD fitting and was told it was “unusual”—but why aren’t we warned how painful these things can be? 🩺 Rema wants to talk to her family about miscarriages and fibroids, but silence is the norm—how can she start the conversation? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU 🗣 Got a question or a story to share? Text or send a voice note on 07796657512—just start your message with LOB 💬 Use the WhatsApp shortcut: https://wa.me/447796657512?text=LOB 📧 Prefer email? Drop us a line at [e-mail] If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who might need it—it really helps! Bryony xx CREDITS 🎙 Presenter: Bryony Gordon 🎙 Guest: Naga Munchetty 🎧 Content Producer: Jonathan O’Sullivan 🎥 Audio & Video Editor: Luke Shelley 📢 Executive Producer: Mike Wooller A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Life of You, the bonus episode where we dig into your questions and dilemmas. This week, Naga's sticking around to answer your brilliant, brave listener letters. Your questions answered right after this. PC Optima points, free grocery delivery, and time back for what matters. Save time and earn $1,100 in average value each year. The PC Insider's World Elite MasterCard. The card for living unlimited. Conditions apply to all benefits. Visit PCFinancial.ca for details. Value is for illustrative purposes only. If you liked this episode, we think you'll love this. I'm Sarah Vine.

And I am Peter Hitchens. And this is Alas! Violin Hitchens asking all the big questions this week. Universities and... Did we win the war? Yes. Do please join us wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.

Had an IUD fitted last year and passed out from the pain. The nurse told me that was unusual. But when I looked it up online, loads of women had the same experience. Why are we still being kept in the dark about how much things can hurt? And that is from Sausage. Sausage, firstly, I'm so sorry. I did. I passed out twice on the bed in pain. Oh, I also passed out when it was taken out as well. That's the horror of an IUD fitting is that what goes in must come out.

I've also had friends for whom it's just fallen out. Yeah. So I've had friends who had no issue with the fitting and no issue with the removal and a wedded to it. But that's okay. Which is great. But I think it's important that, you know, it's like we, there are lots of people that don't have mental, you know, like it's fine, but we do need to talk about it for the people

who are affected. I think the problem is the IED, the coil is so good. It provides so much relief and protection, contraceptive protection for so many women and is a proven really, really good method. And because of that, because it's like the medical world doesn't want to scare women away from having it, but then they almost like hide all the issues that may happen. Like when little girls are told about periods and they're told it's a couple of teaspoons. Do you know what I mean?

That's not helping anyone. That's setting you up for a life of fear of thinking you're abnormal and not talking about it because you're gonna rock the boat. Just tell us, we're not idiots. Tell us we can make our own decisions. I also think that costs of anesthetic, outpatient procedures are taken into consideration and

I think a lot cost has been prioritized over women's comfort. So you make this point in the book, you can ask for all of these things. You can ask, there are different size speculums. There is not this is not. You can have different anesthetics, different levels of anesthetic. And if you, you will know, you will know from your smear tests. You will know, for example, my cervix has never been open, I've never been pregnant.

So I've never miscarried, I've never ever been pregnant. If your cervix hasn't opened, your cervix has to be opened. And it's a dab of alcohol and then tweezers that open up your, yes, your face, imagine that, this woman had that. So you tell them to explain exactly the procedure and take on your own experience and if you ask for pain relief it's not a bad thing because you are doing such a good thing for your own body and health. Why do they do it? History. It is changing. We changed the guidelines for...

You did that! Can you just quickly talk us through what happened there? Well we spoke about it enough that then the body that looks after this said women have to be offered analgesia. Can we just give you a massive round of applause? I can't believe I can't believe that I didn't bring that up in the first episode, the main episode. Just imagine in 10-15 years time we do progress every year and things get slightly better. Like, what's it going to be like for women? It's going to be so much better. It's going to be so much better.

If you liked this episode, we think you'll love this. I'm Sarah Vine. And I am Peter Hitchens. And this is Alas! Violin Hitchens asking all the big questions this week. Universities and Did we win the war? Yes. Do please join us wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you. Every woman in my family has had some kind of gynecological issue from fibroids to cysts to miscarriages, but none of us talk about it. I want to break the cycle, but I don't know how. Where do you even start when silence is the norm? And that is from Rima. How much did you talk about this kind of stuff in your family?

I didn't. I think you just have to start speaking up. I think you can do it in a way, it's so manipulative but we know how to be manipulative because we have to to get what we want sometimes. I think you can, a way that might work is Reema maybe trying to get pregnant and you know say I know there are miscarriages in our family I'm really scared what happens after can I talk to you or what were the other fibroids yeah if you are of if you are of black ethnicity mm-hmm you are more likely to have fibroids there is research going into it. You, and I don't know if Rema is, but you know, bring up a fact, did you know? And do it without

shame. Yes. If you get someone who gives you a look, be prepared to say, I'm talking about this because my health matters and I'm scared and you're my aunt, sister, whatever, mother, and I need to be able to trust you to help me because you want the best for me. I know you do. You have to kind of almost say those awkward things and they can't then say, no, no, no, we don't talk about this because the answer then is you want me to be okay, don't you? Yeah. And you've kind of got to push it on them.

It may not be easy. And we don't have the right to say to someone, you can say to me when did you start your first period, you don't have the right to say that to anyone, even if they're your family. But you can see if they're willing to help, because they probably are willing to help. It's just the norm not to talk about it. But if you say you need it, I can't see anyone who loves you not wanting to help you. That's it for this week's bonus episode. Massive thanks to Naga for her wisdom, her fire and her honesty. And thank you to everyone who wrote in. Your stories matter

more than you know and please continue to send in your queries. matter more than you know and please continue to send in your query. Until next time, please look after yourself. If you liked this episode, we think you'll love this. I'm Sarah Vine. And I am Peter Hitchens. And this is Alas! Vine and Hitchens, asking all the big questions this week. Universities and... Did we win the war? Yes.

Do please join us wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.