My first post and I am already expecting to get a lot of flac for it but here goes. I am almost four months and still getting set up with a regular Dr. (I have had some counceling appt. and an ultrasound; just where you see, not evasive). But I am sure they are expecting to poke around my insides tommorow with a pelvic exam and I am going to refuse. I have done a lot of research into this just as I have with a lot of other pregnancy issues and have determined that at this time the potential risks to the baby outweigh the very few possible benifits of such an evasive exam. Now I expect to be getting a lot of hate for this in the way of people saying I must not care about my baby or other such crap so save it you can possibly contain yourself. I have noticed that western medicine (USA especially) is super obsessed with turning pregnant women into lab rats (not just pregnant women but many other citizens as well) and I just don't buy all the canned crap advice that has been thrown at me (usually by corn-fed idiots). There are places where a pelvic exam during pregnancy would be looked at as insane and very risky so why are we not informed of the possible risks for infection, risks of miscarrage and other risks that are in reality a lot higher than the very risks of rare birth defects detected by these evasive tests? Everyone loves to spit out numbers of how many babies may be born with this or that but they never tell you what number of births they are comparing their study to and they also don't tell you how many of those mothers were at higher risks to begin with. Am I the only one who is sick of all the Fu**ing scare tactics or are most people just happy believing everything they are told with no investigations of their own? When the information is out there I refuse to just believe what is widly known or accepted as truth. Does anyone else feel anything like this on any level or am I the weird one for not blindly believing everything I am told. . .
Any unbrainwashed opinion appriciated.
-J.

I'm not totally sure on everything you said (got a little confused) but to some degree I totally understand! In Kansas, the first thing they do when you get pregnant is a pap, which pisses me off!!! They do STD testing with it, along with the blood work. Which pisses me off cuz I'm married and faithful, and I don't need the damn STD testing! They even scraped my cervix when I was 11 weeks pregnant!!!!!! Is that not STUPID??? But I moved, and now am pregnant again. My OB here said he won't do an exam at all, until late in pregnancy just to check my cervix. Which was a HUGE relief, cuz if they'd tried to do a pap I would have told them HELL NO. STD testing is an insult to me unless I ask for it! I KNOW I'm clean and so is my hubby and to try to make me do the test is to suggest there is no faithfullness in my marriage! But also- don't assume you'll get shit here. These girls are SO NICE, and not to mention most are from other countries where they DON'T do an internal exam during pregnancy, so I'm sure they'll understand!

thankyou so much! I finally realized the whole reason I have felt so crazy the last few weeks is because of all the scarey stuff people tell pregnant women and now that I have reached out and looked for information to make my own decisions I feel more in control. I might just fight my way through this and come out the winner
-J.

Not sure why you'd get shit for not wanting a pap?? It's your choice if you want one or not i would think! Doctors can't make you get one! Good for you for standing up for what you believe . Maybe some Doctors want to milk your insurance for $$? lol or some are just overly zealous.

@ Madwolf, i understand how Doctor's suggesting you need an STD test yearly and such seems like an insult, as you're married and are totally faithful, i feel the same way! But there are some cases, be they rare, where you can pick up STDs and such from public seating! Whether it be seating in a restaurant, or a public toilet. I'm a bit of a health freak lol i am always weary of where i sit out in public.

OK CRAP alert....


a pap smear isnt so invasive - if you're pregnant they'll take extra care and not poke around too deep. Really, it's important to get health checkups, internal and external. I had mine in teh first few weeks when baby was lower down - no problem.

And now you're 4 months baby is safely up a bit - I would suggest you do this for both of your benefits.

I wasn't offered one because my hospital doesn't give them to pregnant people. I think they'd rather not risk it

wasnt offered one either, infact ive never ever had one

Ultimately of course it is your choice. But I also had one done because my last pap was abnormal and this one was abnormal as well so I had to have a colposcopy to take a closer look at the abnormal cells. They do mostly serve a purpose and can be helpful.
Kudos to you though for speaking up to your doctor Alot of people always assume that "doctor knows best" but sometimes they just stick to routines and don't just do what is necessary.

if you're worried about smear tests would you also refuse a vagnal scan?

IT's all poking about in there?...

A pap smear is from your cervix isn't it? A vaginal scan doesn't touch your cervix, or so the woman told me!