Nishmat's Women’s Health and HalachaIn memory of Chaya Mirel bat R' Avraham

  • Hebrew
  • English
  • Espnaol
  • Francais
  • donate
Menu
Side Bar

Spotting three days after Pap smear

30 November, 2015
Question:

I am currently 10 weeks pregnant. At my first prenatal visit, my doctor performed a pap smear and noted that if I have any spotting afterward, it is cervical not uterine blood and that it would not render me niddah. The exam was Wednesday and I did have some slight spotting that day and early the next morning (Thursday). There was no spotting on Friday; however, on Shabbos I did have some more spotting, which was on toilet paper and a white pantiliner. I do not know if this was a continuation of spotting from the pap smear or something else. Does this render me niddah?


Answer:

B’Sha’ah Tovah!

It is possible that the staining was still caused by the Pap smear.

In any case, stains on  a pantyliner may be disregarded and do not make you niddah. Stains on toilet paper would render you niddah only if you are certain that you wiped immediately after urinating. Even in that case, stains within 24 hours of a Pap smear would be attributed to abrasion from the procedure (dam makkah), and would not make you niddah.

For the future, you should take precautions against becoming niddah from further staining by wearing colored underwear or a pantyliner, and waiting at least a few seconds (ideally 15 seconds) after urinating before wiping. You can see our pages on stains and toilet paper for more details.

Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions.

B’Hatzlacha!

This response was updated on 14 February, 2024.

This internet service does not preclude, override or replace the psak of any rabbinical authority. It is the responsibility of the questioner to inform us of any previous consultation or ruling. As even slight variation in circumstances may have Halachic consequences, views expressed concerning one case may not be applied to other, seemingly similar cases. All health and health-related information contained within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is intended to be general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for consulting with your health care professional. The advice is intended to offer a basis for individuals to discuss their medical condition with their health care provider but not individual advice. Although every effort is made to ensure that the material within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is accurate and timely, it is provided for the convenience of the Web site user but should not be considered official. Advice for actual medical practice should be obtained from a licensed health care professional. For further questions or comments:  The Nishmat Women's Health and Halacha Site is a public service of Nishmat, The Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women. This project and others like it are made possible by contributions from people like you. If you have benefited from the service, and wish to enable us to help others, click here to donate.
Users of Internet filtering services: This site discusses sensitive subjects that some services filter without visual indication. A page that appears 100% complete might actually be missing critical Jewish-law or medical information. To ensure that you view the pages accurately, ask the filtering service to whitelist all pages under yoatzot.org.

Accessibility Toolbar