Abortion Services in New Zealand

Wairarapa DHB

Masterton District, Carterton District, South Wairarapa District

Licensed institutions

Wairarapa Hospital, Masterton

Street Address: Te Ore Ore Road, Masterton
Postal Address: PO Box 96, Masterton
Phone: (06) 946 9800
Facsimile: (06) 946 6959

Services provided

Wairarapa Hospital, Masterton provides first trimester terminations (i.e. up to 14 weeks) for all eligible women. Women may be referred to Level J Unit if they wish to go to Wellington for privacy or other personal reasons.

Second trimester referrals are made to the Level J Unit Wellington Hospital for all grounds other than fetal anomaly, in which case woman are referred to the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Team at Wellington Women's Hospital.

First trimester

Appointments

The patient's first contact should be with the GP. The GP will refer the woman for counselling and arrange an appointment with a certifying consultant. The certifying consultant will make an appointment with the certifying consultant at the hospital.

Day Procedure Unit at Wairarapa Hospital, Masterton
Phone: (06) 946 9800 ext 4902
Facsimile: (06) 946 9856
Information required from the referrer
Certification

Women are required to have certificates from two doctors who are certifying consultants. There are four local certifying consultants in the Wairarapa and one of these is the operating doctor as well as a certifying consultant.

Counselling

Counselling is provided by the Social Work Department at Wairarapa Hospital, Masterton. Women who are being referred to Wellington Hospital should also see the Social Workers at Masterton before referral.

Social Work Department at Wairarapa Hospital, Masterton
Phone: (06) 946 9800 or 0800 946 9800 ext 5700
Facsimile: (06) 946 9837
Email: topreferrals@wairarapa.dhb.org.nz
The procedure for surgical termination

The procedure is done by vacuum aspiration under local anaesthetic at Wairarapa Hospital, Masterton.

The procedure for medical termination

We now offer medical termination of pregnancy up to 9 weeks gestation. Mifegyne is given on a Monday, patients return on a Wednesday for Misoprostol and are then allowed home for the miscarriage to occur.

Follow-up

Follow-up is provided by the referring doctor or the operating doctor if preferred by the patient. Follow-up counselling is available in the Social Work Department if needed.

Cost

The service is free for eligible patients. Those who are ineligible for publicly-funded services need to request information on the costs from the hospital.

Second trimester - all grounds, other than fetal anomaly

Second trimester abortion services for non-fetal anomaly grounds are provided by the Level J Unit Wellington Women's Hospital. A one-day service is provided if women have all the correct referral information, including an ultrasound scan of their pregnancy.

Second trimester - fetal anomaly

Women who have pregnancies where fetal abnormalities are detected on ultrasound or by amniocentesis will usually be referred to the Fetal-Maternal Medicine Team at Wellington Women's Hospital for assessment. Termination of pregnancy can be organised by this team.

Social workers at Wairarapa Hospital, Masterton offer and recommend counselling for every patient.

DHB responsibilities

All District Health Boards are required to provide termination of pregnancy services "for those women who meet the criteria provided by the Crimes Act 1961 and the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977". See Ministry of Health. However accessing accurate, up-to-date and informative details about how individual District Health Boards provide these services, or whether they provide them, has been extremely difficult. The information provided here is the best that we have been able to obtain for this district to date. We will continue to update the website as we obtain further information.

Last Updated: 26 April 2008