One of my friends is pregnant and she said that...?

Question

At her first doctor visit, they cut off part of her cervix to do a pregnancy test.

Now, my son was born 2 years ago, and while I was pregnant, I read EVERY book I could get my hands on about pregnancy and babies, and I've never heard of this.

I know about stiching the cervix closed if it's trying to open too soon, and I know that they take a biopsy (spelling?) from your cervix if they suspect cancer, and to test for certain STD's.

So is she telling it wrong, and they're testing her for an STD, or is her story really true, and I've just never heard of it before?

Answer 1

They usually do a pap smear to make sure everything is ok, but not to do a pregnancy test???  That's either urine or blood test.

Answer 2

Doctors would never proform a biopsy to test for pregnancy. It could unneseccarly irritate the cervix and could cause miscarrage.

Your friend may have heard wrong. More then likely she had a weird pap smear result and they are testing for HPV or a serious STD like clomida.

Answer 3

i believe that she may have had some abnormal cells on her cervix and they had to cut some of her cervix to determine if she has hpv but some doctors wait til after you have the baby because it could cause you to go into preterm labor but in her case maybe she didnt know she was pregnant at the time of the procedure

Answer 4

A biopsy of cervical tissue is not something that would tell if someone is pregnant. It could be a misunderstanding after a PAP, which is routine during the first prenatal exam.

There is a procedure called a cloposcopy (also spelled colposcopy), where they can do a cervical biopsy and examine the cervix with a microscope while the woman is awake but that is not routine during pregnancy. It is generally done if a PAP reveals abnormal cells.  

My guess is that she was talking about the PAP.

Answer 5

pregnancy tests are done by testing the hcg in urine and/or blood. The only reason they would scrap your cervix is to test for cancel and std's. She is obviously confused about what procedure they did for what.

Answer 6

They are probably testing for HPV, which can lead to certain STDs or cancer.

I have never heard of a doctor testing for pregnancy that way, she could have taken a urine or blood test for that.

Either your friend got the story wrong or she is hiding (trying to hide) something from you, maybe she is worried she has a STD and is embarrassed or scared about the biopsy test.

Answer 7

The only reason to scrape the cervix is for a pap smear.  If it is abnormal with pre-cancerous cells (caused by HPV), then they may cut off a very small part of it for a biopsy.  

There is no need to cut off the cervix for "pregnancy testing".