“Is a Pap smear necessary during pregnancy?”

You may need a Pap smear during pregnancy. A Pap smear may be required as part of your routine prenatal tests and screening regardless of having a previous Pap smear. It is a safe procedure. Thank you.

Depends on your history and the time of your last one.

A Pap smear may be needed for pregnant patients who may have had past or current cervical infections such as CMV, and Herpes. The physician may decide to perform a C- section to protect the baby’s eyes from being infected during delivery.

If you have either not had a Pap smear in a while (e.g. within a few years) or have had abnormal Pap smears in the past, it would be best to get a Pap smear soon. However I would defer to your doctor about this. Doing a Pap smear while pregnant should not pose any problem to your pregnancy. If past Pap smears have all been normal then it’s probably okay to wait until after your pregnancy. However again I would defer to your doctor about this. Hope this helps a bit. Dave Gordon

“To improve the health of the communities we serve. That is why we are here!”
“What I want to know now is what we gonna do?” (B.B. King)
David Gordon, M.D.
Professor of Pathology (VERY Active Emeritus!) and Director of Cardiovascular Pathology
Director of Faculty Programs, Office for Health Equity and Inclusion for the University of Michigan Health System
University of Michigan Medical School/Michigan Medicine
North Campus Research Center (NCRC) Bldg. 36, Rm. 1361-14
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2800
Tel. 734-615-3638
Pager: #3316