Saoirse Hanley: I documented my smear test on Instagram and I’d do it again if it helped to dispel the shame that keeps women from booking a check-up

Don’t make that face. I know exactly how your features contorted after reading the headline, because it’s the same look most women have when the topic of the smear test comes up. I remember an adult telling me they were headed to the doctor for their check-up when I was 17, and from the way she spoke about it, I thought she was facing into a lunchtime laparoscopy.

Fast forward to eight years later when it was my time to face the music. I decided to document the whole experience on my social media in a mission to prove that it really isn’t all that bad. Before you rush to Instagram to have me blocked for inappropriate content, don’t worry, it was all very PG.



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