Do you HAVE to get a pap test while pregnant?

[HollySSmith]

Honestly, it better to have one as there could be something they need to treat sooner than later. In The case of abnormal cells, they wait, but there are more things than just that, that they are looking for. Personally, I would do it (and have done it), for the sake of the baby. Beware of researching on the Internet as often people's opinions are touted as facts. Anyone can be an 'armchair expert'. Scientifically, the pros out weight the cons, because I personally, would never forgive myself if I passed something on to LO when it could have been prevented. As it stands, there is no scientific link to pap tests and miscarriages, though I could understand why you would be concerned. At the end of the day, no one can force you to do it, so you always have the right of refusal .

 

[Sweetp79]

Honestly, it better to have one as there could be something they need to treat sooner than later. In The case of abnormal cells, they wait, but there are more things than just that, that they are looking for. Personally, I would do it (and have done it), for the sake of the baby. Beware of researching on the Internet as often people's opinions are touted as facts. Anyone can be an 'armchair expert'. Scientifically, the pros out weight the cons, because I personally, would never forgive myself if I passed something on to LO when it could have been prevented. As it stands, there is no scientific link to pap tests and miscarriages, though I could understand why you would be concerned. At the end of the day, no one can force you to do it, so you always have the right of refusal .

I'm not down playing the importance of paps at all, my opinion about paps during pregnacey is just that you can wait tell after the baby is born since they don't Usually do anything About it until after The baby is born if it is abnormal anyways. And they can still do a STD screening without the pap which the STD screening is non invasive and just use a cotton swab for that.
With a pap they use a spatula to scrape and (lightly) twist a small wire brush that looks like a mascarra brush into the middle of your cervix and around it to collect cells which is more invasive.

If you have never had one I'd get one though. There are millions of people who haven't had a miscarriage after having one too (including me with my first 2 preg) always best to just follow your instincts and your trusted doctors advice when making the final choice.

 

[Floralaura]

Are you in UK or US? It seems a US thing to do during pregnancy whereas in UK I have never heard of anyone getting one done in pregnancy.
I have had a bad smear, colposcopy that revealed CIN3 cells and then had removal treatment..So I am on yearly smears now. I got pregnant couple years after treatment and was due a smear when pregnant and was told they would not do it when pregnany and for the forst 3mths after birth and to get it done after 3mths PP. I am now pregnant again and due a smear during pregnancy and have again been told the same, nothing til 3mths PP.
Honestly, even with my history I wouldnt want one done, especially in 1st tri..However like a previous poster said, millions have them done so they must be safe? x

 

[wamommy]

With a pap they use a spatula to scrape and (lightly) twist a small wire brush that looks like a mascarra brush into the middle of your cervix and around it to collect cells which is more invasive.

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Yikes.... Where I live they simply use a speculum to open ya up a tad, and use a giant q-tip (cotton on a stick) to GENTLY brush your cervix. I've never heard of spatulas and wire brushes? It's a bit awkward... but certainly not painful. If you don't feel comfortable doing it, don't... but don't let scary stories send you running from a harmless test

 

[ThinkPositiv]

you can refuse medical treatment for sure. but there is no risk of MC or harm to the baby with a pap test......and since pregnancy can change things in your body, i would highly recommend not delaying it for 9 months. i too am scared of the bleeding - but you will know why you are bleeding if you just had the pap...its not as though the cause will be unknown. i had cervical cancer some 7 or so years ago - found by a routine pap test. have been monitored closely by the cancer agency since then. i was going every 3 months for one, then 6 months, now yearly. at my last yearly they found abnormal cells....unfortunatly the timing could not have been worse - we were going through a MC; suppose to go back after the bleeding but got pregnant straight away - scheduled apt. after dating ultrasound, MC again! had surgery (D&C), and doc wanted to wait 8 weeks to do the pap post D&C....pregnant again! so i am very worried. i was suppose to go in decemeber! so i will def be having one in pregnancy - prob. at my first OBGYN apt in a few weeks...and if i havent stressed it enough, i really think you should have one if you are due.

 

[jojo1972]

I'm from the UK and had it done in 2 of my pregnancies. Its perfectly safe and defo worth having done. If you refuse it you'll only worry throughout the rest of the pregnancy anyway! Better to rule anything out now and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy without the what IF's hanging over your head. Good luck x

 

[destynibaby]

I never had a pap until i got pregnant. i was 26. now 27. my doctor told me I should have had one every year since 18. My baby was not planned but i knew I needed to get checked out completely to make sure my LO has the best chance at life. im terrified of doctors and never been to one. the pap was uncomfortable. and yes i bled. she found alot of blood during the actual pap and told me that is more than likely because of an infection. When the results came back, i did in fact have BV. Was I nervous? yes. scared? definitely. freaked out when she pulled out her fingers full of blood? HELL YES!. but none of it mattered because my baby is the most important thing to me. i was given antibiotics and im all clear and my baby is 100% healthy. even as i type this he is kicking the crap out of me.
Get it done. You'll be glad you did.

 

[silver_penny]

It is really pretty fast procedure and if you do have any infections they can treat you otherwise you risk passing it along to your baby during birth which can include pneumonia and eye diseases etc which can cause your baby a lot of harm. Your choice but it is not a big deal. I use to be terrified of having a pap done and avoided the doc. But several years ago I was forced to have one and once I had it done it was not such a big deal, I wondered why I was so worried. It is a fast simple procedure as they just take a brush and swab your cervix and really won't harm your baby, but infections can and you can have them and not be aware of it, so better to protect your baby. They can treat you for infections while you are pregnant. Anyway, good luck whatever you decide!

In a PAP smear test they are only looking for abnormal cervical cells. They do not use this test to check for other STD's. HPV very rarely infects a newborn as they pass through the birth canal, and unlikely to affect the pregnancy or birth. HPV does not cause pneumonia or eye diseases in a newborn. These are caused by other STD's ( chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphyilis). Yes, they can treat you for these while pregnant, but they normally do not treat a woman for HPV while pregnant, which is what the PAP test screens for. So, if she were to wait until after the pregnancy, it wouldn't pose a risk to her baby. If you are worried about the other STD's, there are other tests that can be performed to detect them that do not include collecting cells from the cervix.

 

[CherylC3]

I'm due mines but got told I won't get it if I'm pg. x

 

[omfgski]

..

 

[Sweetp79]

With a pap they use a spatula to scrape and (lightly) twist a small wire brush that looks like a mascarra brush into the middle of your cervix and around it to collect cells which is more invasive.

.

Yikes.... Where I live they simply use a speculum to open ya up a tad, and use a giant q-tip (cotton on a stick) to GENTLY brush your cervix. I've never heard of spatulas and wire brushes? It's a bit awkward... but certainly not painful. If you don't feel comfortable doing it, don't... but don't let scary stories send you running from a harmless test

I'm from the US, for the past 10 years I thought that they only used a giant Q tip until I actually asked if that's all they use (besides the speculum) and they showed me the mascara type brush w the spatula and I almost fainted! they told me there is no other way to do a pap smear and that's how the medical association has done it for ever. : /
My last ob did a good job of keeping those things out of my view! Lol and I always wondered why there was a slight pinch from a q tip! But never asked until recently what they actually use! Lol

 

[jojo1972]

I thought they don't recommend smear tests during pregnancy as so much is going on they can't get an accurate result? I had one done by a doctor at hospital towards the end of my pregnancy though because they thought there was something abnormal there when checking me and afterwards a consultant said they shouldn't have done it because the results could be wrong anyway because of pregnancy so it wasn't worth putting me through the discomfort.

Seems to be different rules with different doctors though so might be worth checking first.

Its supposed to be safe in the first 13 weeks, after that its not recommended to have one.

 

[_jellybean_]

I have gotten an appointment to see my ob next month and it says on the letter that I will be given a pap/smear test... I have never had one done before I know they are very useful, I've had two close family members have abnormal results in the last 2 years both of whom are close in age to me, they both had a colposcopy and one had pre cancerous cells removed so I realise that its very serious and needs to be done. At the same time, I am absoloutly terrified of having one done as it sounds painful and I've got a very low pain threshold, also the idea of someone messing around with my cervix during pregnancy seems absoloutly crazy!! I've done a bit of research and there is apparently no link between paps and miscarriage although they do cause bleeding, i dont think i could deal with bleeding i'd be out of my mind with worry! Also apparently pregnancy causes the cells in your cervix to change anyway and its very common to get abnormal results in pregnancy because of this which later turn out to be nothing! Do i have to get this done? am I allowed to refuse? I fully intend to get one done after I have this baby but I really dont feel comfortable having one during pregnancy and im not sure whether or not i have a choice

It's your body, so of course you can refuse it.

I just had one done...no bleeding, nothing, and it wasn't that bad to be honest. It took literally LESS that one minute!

 

[_jellybean_]

I really think you should at least get an exam, so doc can have a look and make sure you're okay.

 

[shocker]

Are you in UK or US? It seems a US thing to do during pregnancy whereas in UK I have never heard of anyone getting one done in pregnancy.
I have had a bad smear, colposcopy that revealed CIN3 cells and then had removal treatment..So I am on yearly smears now. I got pregnant couple years after treatment and was due a smear when pregnant and was told they would not do it when pregnany and for the forst 3mths after birth and to get it done after 3mths PP. I am now pregnant again and due a smear during pregnancy and have again been told the same, nothing til 3mths PP.
Honestly, even with my history I wouldnt want one done, especially in 1st tri..However like a previous poster said, millions have them done so they must be safe? x

Its Ireland, i'm moving there in a few weeks, I'm finding so many conflicting opinions about this I actually thought it was a cut and dried you have to sort of thing, since nothing can be done if something is found until after I have the baby anyway I dont understand why people are saying that it would be putting my baby at risk not to have it done? An std test is done via blood test and is an entirely different thing, of course i'm going to get the blood test, I really dont understand the vast conflict of information, I think I'll need to discuss this in person with my ob and hopefully she will talk through my concerns with me and help me make a decision

 

[shocker]

I thought they don't recommend smear tests during pregnancy as so much is going on they can't get an accurate result? I had one done by a doctor at hospital towards the end of my pregnancy though because they thought there was something abnormal there when checking me and afterwards a consultant said they shouldn't have done it because the results could be wrong anyway because of pregnancy so it wasn't worth putting me through the discomfort.

Seems to be different rules with different doctors though so might be worth checking first.

See now this seems to be an actual fact, I have read that pregnancy causes the cells in your cervix to change anyway and many women get abnormal results because of this, they then spend months worrying only to go back after baby is born to be told it was due to pregnancy and they are fine

 

[threemakefive]

I didn't read all the comments so sorry if I repeat but I didn't like the idea of it this time as I had a miscarriage my last pregnancy.(didn't have pap with that pregnancy tho) my doctor was very understanding and said we could wait until I.feel comfortablr doing it...so at my 13 week visit we are going to have it done

 

[star_light]

yep..... with 2 of my boys and even with this pregnency too...

 

[poutie]

You absolutely have the option to say no. It's 100% safe, it's just a misconception that it can cause harm to your baby. I got one about a month ago, and I haden't had one in over 3 years and I was dreading it so much! But it takes literally 2 seconds, and it's no big deal at all. I realized I was going through all that misery for absolutely nothing! I would suggest getting one because it really is for good reason and wouldn't it be horrible if something that could have been so easily fixed wasn't because it wasn't detected with a pap smear. And once you've gotten it, you won't have to get any more for the rest of your pregnancy! Then the rest of the appointments are all the fun stuff!

 

[venusinfurs]

I wish I'd just had my done before I got pregnant because I put it off for a couple years and now I have an appointment to get it done when I am 12 weeks pregnant. I feel the same way, I just do not want any bleeding because of the insane theories my mind will no doubt conjure up! But the dr says it is ok until 14 weeks (I'm in Australia) so I think I will just get it done because then I won't have to worry about it for another year. Noone can make you do anything against your will though. If it bothers you that much you have the right to refuse because it's YOUR body. Like my dr said though "You're pregnant. Your modesty is gone! Everyone's going to get a glimpse!" Haha.