What happens in a smear test?
It is most likely that you will have your smear test at your local doctor’s surgery and it will either be performed by your GP or practice nurse. You can request that it is performed by a female if you prefer. You will be asked to take off your underwear and lie on your back with your knees drawn up and your legs apart. Then the nurse of GP will insert something called a speculum inside your vagina. The speculum basically spreads your vagina gently open so that your cervix can be seen clearly. The surface of your cervix is then scraped for a sample, which will be sent to the laboratory to be examined. Normally your tests results will be sent back to your surgery and they will only contact you if your smear test has an abnormal result. Ask your surgery what the procedure is for how long it takes for the results to come back and whether you will be notified of the result or have to call the surgery for it. Most women report that smear tests don’t hurt but that they are sometimes a little
