where do you get your vaginal swab done?

[puppies]

My obs says that I need to get a vaginal swab done next week but where do you get it from? GP, Obs or Pathology?
Is it like having a pap smear? Can it cause bleeding or any kind of damage at all? And are they just looking for infections or something else?

[Beach Mama]

It will be the group B strep swab. It is external, my ob gave me the stick thing at my appointment and sent me off to do it myself in the bathroom. Its like a big ear bud thing that you swipe from vagina to anus basically (nice). It was then sent of to pathology. With Izzy the Dr did it for me. I would think that because you are having a c/s you wouldn't need to have the test because basically if you test positive they give you ab's during labour as there is a risk of bub contracting it during birth - not an issue in c/s. Many hospitals don't even test for it anymore because you can test + one day and not the next. I would question why you need the test when you are having a c/s???? I tested + for Izzy and - for James but they still wanted me to have ab's which I refused and they noted it in my chart. You don't have to have the test if you don't want it.

[Pandora]

I was given mine to take home and do myself or told that I could go to gribbles(or whatever path. lab your dr uses) and get them to do it for me, which i did cos I didnt want to do it wrong lol

[Lolli]

Yeah, I was sent to the toilets of my hospital with the swab and did it myself. The toilets were a bit... ewwwww and they did tell me I could take it home and drop it back, but home was a half hour drive away