Isabel Munoz-Newsome presumed she was too young to be diagnosed with cervical cancer. Here, she recalls how embarrassment held her back from having a smear test.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, with around 3,000 people being diagnosed each year in the UK. Shocking statistics like this show how absolutely vital it is that all women need to feel comfortable and confident in attending regular smear tests, but sadly this isn’t always the case.

Isabel Munoz-Newsome, the frontwoman of London-based electro post-punk band Pumarosa, had never had a smear test when she began seeing unusual symptoms.

“I just started getting a shadow of blood, but very faint, in my pants every day. The doctor could tell straight away that something was wrong.”

In 2017, Munoz-Newsome was diagnosed with cervical cancer. As she explains, her fear of getting a smear test meant that her diagnosis was delayed.

“I was ashamed of taking off my trousers in a doctors surgery, which is ridiculous. I felt a sense of shame about having my vagina looked at,” she says.

“I was angry at myself for not having a smear test. I was angry with society for making me feel ashamed about my body.

“It’s wrong that we feel that sense of shame about our own bodies. Women shouldn’t feel like that. Just go. Have a smear test, it’s a tiny bit uncomfortable. But it’s way more uncomfortable to have an operation.”

“I felt too ashamed to get a smear test”: Isabel Munoz-Newsome on what cervical cancer taught her about the dangers of body shame