IUD Safestring
Complicated IUD removals are largely preventable.
Most begin the same way: IUD strings that can’t be seen or felt. This project works to fix that at the system level — starting by asking the FDA and IUD manufacturers to mark the strings.
The mission
The goal of the broader project is simple to state: decrease the incidence of complicated IUD removals through a systems-focused, multitargeted approach.
IUD Safestring is the public arm of that work. It raises awareness of nonvisible IUD strings as a largely preventable complication — needlessly painful, time-consuming, and costly for patients and providers — and gives patients, clinicians, manufacturers, and regulators clear ways to act.
Our missionMark the Strings
Ask the FDA and manufacturers to mark the strings.
One device-level change: IUD strings marked in 1 cm increments, so string length becomes an objective, visible measure instead of a guess. The petition asks manufacturers to make the change and regulators to set evidence-based string-length guidance.
Launching soon
We’re finalizing a petition platform that treats signers’ privacy and accessibility seriously. The petition will open on this page — no email address is collected in the meantime.
Start here
Choose your path
Three ways in, depending on what brought you.
- I have an IUDWhat strings are for, how they become nonvisible, and what a complicated removal involves.Learn
- I work in healthcareThe root-cause picture — inconsistent string-length guidance, unmarked strings — and what clinicians can do.Advocate
- I want to support the campaignSign when the petition opens, share it, or report an experience through official channels.Petition
Learn
Start with the basics
Reviewed education, written in plain language.
- 01
IUD basics
What an IUD is, what the strings do, and why every brand’s instructions differ.
- 02
Why nonvisible strings matter
How strings become impossible to find — and why most of those cases are preventable.
- 03
The removal pathway
What routine removal looks like, and what changes when it becomes a complicated removal.
- 04
Find care and support
Where this site can point you — and the questions worth asking your clinician.
The proposal
Mark the strings
The proposed fix is a device-level change: mark IUD strings in 1-centimeter increments, so string length becomes an objective, visible, enduring measure instead of a visual guess.
Today, no brand’s strings carry any measurement. Clinicians cut them by eye against instructions that differ from product to product. Marked strings would give everyone — patient and clinician — a reference that can actually be checked.
Where to go next
The mission explains the why; Learn covers the how.