Member Organisations
Epsom Day Unit
Greenlane Clinical Centre
Greenlane
Auckland. New Zealand
Telephone: 64 9 631 0740
Fax: 64 9 630 9819
Epsom Day Unit is the regional termination of pregnancy service for Greater Auckland.
The Unit provides a comprehensive client centred service to women who are considering their pregnancy options in the first trimester of pregnancy. It is a public health clinic staffed by a multidisciplinary team, which includes Social Work/Counsellors, Doctors, Nurses, Administrative and Ancillary staff.
Abortion in New Zealand is legal under the provisions of the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act. This law requires that two Medical Practitioners who are designated as Certifying Consultants agree that a woman's request for an abortion fulfills the requirements of the Act. The Act also requires counselling to be available to women if necessary.
Epsom Day Unit has a two-appointment system for seeing women who are referred for a termination. At the first appointment, women are seen by a Social Work/Counsellor, a Certifying Consultant and a Nurse for assessment, contraceptive planning and information provision. If required, counselling is also provided. If her request for an abortion is approved, a second appointment is made. At the second appointment, women see the second Certifying Consultant and, if all legal requirements are met, the termination is performed.
Social Work/Counsellors provide a pre-decision counselling service on request and women can return to the clinic for post-termination counselling if required.
The majority of terminations at the Unit are performed under local anaesthetic with analgesia and sedation. For women who require a general anaesthetic, the termination is performed as an inpatient at the National Women's Hospital.
Being situated in New Zealand's largest city, the Unit performs approximately a third of the total terminations nation wide.