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WARNING: You may not want your children to read some topics or view some images in this section. |
Reasons for a vaginal examination
How a vaginal examination is done
Unless there are health concerns or complications, there is no medical reason to have routine vaginal examinations as part of your regular pregnancy visits. However, this is not to say you may not need one for various reasons at some stage, depending on your health needs.
In the past, before the widespread use of instant pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, caregivers used to perform a routine vaginal examination to help determine if a woman was possibly pregnant. They felt or looked for physical signs that sometimes accompanied pregnancy. However, these signs were
VERY vague and inconclusive and are no longer used or relied upon, but if you need a vaginal examination for another reason during early pregnancy, your caregiver may comment on noticing them. The physical signs were often given names after the people that discovered them and include: