vaginal swaps during pregnancy?

[babess944]

went in to triage for suspected uti with some cramps uti came up some what clear but with some traces of protein. the doctor put this thing in my vagina to open up the walls so they could see my cervix and take swabs the swabs came back that im not in early labour which is good and she also sent the swaps off for testing as she said she saw alot of discharge. fingers crossed its nothing.

when she done the swaps it hurt really badly it felt like she was putting in close to my cervix and now im worried this can trigger off labour as the swabs may irritate my cervix im 30 weeks btw also when she was doing the swabs and putting that thing inside to see my cervix i was litrally tensing because it hurt so bad. i then went online to see others expericnce with having swabs done and came across women saying they develped a infection from having swabs done and their babies died which scared me alot. i asked the doctor if everything was safe and what i saw online and she said that cant be right as the things they use are clean and brand new.

as anyone had a swab during pregnancy to help me relax thank you

(sorry about my punctuation)

also when they send swabs in what are they looking for?

I’m not an expert, but I would think that swabs near your cervix wouldn’t trigger labour, any more than (sorry) a penis would

Not sure vaginal swaps are ever a good idea...

I had a couple of swabs earlier in this pregnancy to try to see if I had an infection (I had experienced some unexplained bleeding- still unexplained)

I'm sure if the risks were high they would alter you to the risks before the procedure.
I would say try to relax and then call me if you are experiencing any pains. X

@Grumpy19 no pain after the swaps which is good or bleeding so im guessing all this good hopefully

That is good. In that case I'm sure you will be fine. They are probably just trying to check for any other type of infection if it's not a UTI. X

@BewareTheBeardedDragon it needed to be done, I thank you.

It sounds like they used a speculum then swabs. The doctor is correct that the swabs are brand new for each patient and sterile. As long as your cervix is not open (such as in labour), it's safe.

You may experience some discomfort because the cervix is quite sensitive in pregnancy. You also might get a couple of blood droplets - again because the cervix is easily irritated in pregnancy!

If you were tense then it can be uncomfortable. I’m guessing you’ve never had a smear test done as that’s what they do. Try to relax when they put in the speculum, you’re more sensitive during pregnancy due to extra blood flow so it can feel a bit more uncomfortable. The swabs are sealed in sterile packaging and are safe and if there was a risk they’d have informed you or not done them. Also an increase in discharge is normal during pregnancy as it helps stop infection.

A speculum hurts like FFFFFFFFFFFCKKK I remember I had one last year before I even got pregnant and It was so bad i was holding one of the nurses hands 🤣🤣🤣🤣💀💀💀💀I never had one before I think I was about 18 I was not expecting that I cried the whole bus journey home It still hurt me for the next day omg it was awful, it's normal to hurt so don't worry about it and also if anything bad we're to come from having it done they wouldn't have done it you'll be fine