Pap Smear in Antenatal Women : An esteemed Opportunity for Screening and Awareness

Background: Cervical and breast cancers are the leading malignancies in females in India, early detection through regular screening plays a vital role in its prevention and management. The incidence of abnormal cervical cytologic findings during pregnancy is 0.72 to 1.67%.Pap smear testing is simple, cost effective and is safe in pregnancy. In low resource countries like ours, this may be the only opportunity when the woman comes to a health centre. Objective of the study is to determine the prevalence of abnormal cervical smears and genital infections among pregnant women and is to determine the awareness of pap smear as a cervical cancer screening test in pregnant women Methods: A prospective study was conducted among 100 women attending the outpatient unit of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology for antenatal check-ups. Conventional pap smear was used in this study. The cytological results were reported as per the Bethesda classification system 2014. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data, including frequencies and percentages. Results: In this study, among 100 antenatal women mean age was 23.70 years. Mean age at marriage was 19.72years.58% were multigravida and 42% were primigravida Among the 100 Pap smear reports, 72% were NILM, 22% nonspecific inflammatory changes, 5% bacterial vaginosis and 1% ASCUS. The findings revealed a lack of awareness among the study participants, with 73% reported no awareness of cervical cancer. Similarly, 82% of women were unaware of screening methods for cervical cancer. Furthermore, only 2% of the participants had undergone previous screening. These results highlight the significant gap in knowledge and the low prevalence of screening among the study population. Conclusion: The antenatal period should be utilized as a valuable opportunity to screen them for cancer cervix. The study underscores the need to improve awareness and knowledge about cervical cancer and screening among women. Enhancing awareness can contribute to early detection, timely interventions, and improved outcomes for women