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Cervical smears, breast screening, pregnancy icon

Cervical smears, breast screening, pregnancy

Our women’s health service is comprehensive, sensitive and caring. All of our GP clinics offer cervical smear tests, referral to mammograms for breast cancer screening and pregnancy support.

How we can help

Cervical smears

Free cervical cancer screening is available to all our enrolled patients.

The smear test looks for abnormal changes to the cells of the neck of your uterus (cervix). It’s important to find abnormal cells early so you can be given treatment before the cells develop into cancer.

We encourage all women aged 20–69 years to have a cervical screening test every three years if the initial smear results are normal.

If you are aged 25 or over and you are or have been sexually active and haven’t had a cervical smear in the last three years, talk to your nurse or GP at any of our clinics. 

What is a cervical smear?

Having a smear test only takes a few minutes and you can ask that it be done by a female nurse or doctor. Some women find it uncomfortable, but it shouldn’t hurt.

A few cells are collected from your cervix using a spatula (a thin, flat wooden instrument) and put into a solution for testing in the laboratory. The cells are put under a microscope to see if there is anything abnormal. If there is, your clinic will let you know the next steps. 

Read more about Having a cervical smear test.

Breast screening

If you are concerned about any changes to your breasts, please come to see a doctor or nurse at one of our GP clinics. We can help you will a number of breast problems, like mastitis or pain, and refer you to a specialist if needed.

We also encourage women to have regular breast screening tests, which are used to find breast cancer early so that treatment can start and increase the chance of a full recovery. One in nine women in New Zealand get breast cancer.

BreastScreen Aotearoa is a national breast screening programme offering a free screening mammogram every two years for women who:

  • are aged 45‒69 years
  • have no symptoms of breast cancer
  • have not had a mammogram in the last 12 months
  • are not pregnant or breastfeeding
  • are eligible for public health services in New Zealand.

You can read all about the programme, risks and benefits and how to register on the Time to Screen website. Or phone BreastScreen Aotearoa on 0800 270 200.

Pregnancy

We can give advice and care at every stage of your pregnancy. This includes when you are trying to get pregnant, or if you are having difficulty getting pregnant.

Every woman having a baby needs to nominate a health professional who will help them through their pregnancy. We do not offer lead maternity carer (LMC) services at Local Doctors or White Cross, however, we provide information about how to choose a LMC to every pregnant woman enrolled with us. You can discuss what is best for you with your nurse or GP at any of our clinics, along with likely costs.

Your LMC options are:

  • Independent midwife: You can choose to have your own midwife LMC, who provides care throughout your pregnancy and until your baby is about six weeks old.  
  • Hospital setting: If you wish to be taken care of in a hospital setting, you can see a hospital-based midwife LMC. Which hospital depends on where you live, talk to your nurse of doctor about this.
  • Specialist care: Talk with your nurse or doctor if you want more information about care from an obstetrician LMC.

Remember, as well as having an LMC, you can pay to see one of our doctors or nurses for any maternity-related concerns, and we have a gynaecology service too.

Mana 4 Mums

We provide additional support to young expectant mothers who are Māori or Pasifika, under 22 years old and live in South Auckland Find out more about Mana 4 Mums and whether you're eligible. 

Didn’t plan on having a baby?

We can also care for you if you are unhappy about being pregnant or the possibility that you might be pregnant. We can talk you through various options such as adoption, foster care or abortion. 
Further information for those considering abortion

Our medical staff are experienced in providing a range of contraception choices, too. Some of them are free. Just come and talk to us about whatever is on your mind.
Further information on contraception

Additional maternity support services

We have compiled a list of useful maternity services and resources that are available in the community.

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FAQs

Local Doctors provides quality, easy to access healthcare through our large clinic network. You can trust our friendly staff to work with compassion and listen to your needs. They are trained to work together as a team to offer high-quality medical care.

  • Some clinics have ample parking, while others not so much. Please visit your nearest clinic’s page to find out more. We’ll also let you know if a clinic is close to public transport.

  • Most people in this country have to wait to see their doctor! That’s because people have different health needs and how long it takes to get the right help can be very unpredictable. It’s our long-held philosophy that you should be able to see a doctor on the day you need to – and not have to wait for days.

    The most seriously ill people are seen first. The really good news is that you can now see on the clinic website pages what the expected wait time is at that clinic! That means you can find another clinic near to you with a shorter wait time, if need be, or choose to come another day.

  • ManageMyHealth is a secure website that can receive your health information from your doctor’s system. You can use it to store other health information, too, such as other treatments you have received or other medications that you may be taking. This means you can access your personal health information from any device at anytime, anywhere in the world. If your clinic takes appointment bookings you can do this through ManageMyHealth as well as order repeat prescriptions. Your online Personal Health Record can be made up of:

    • Consultation notes
    • Laboratory results
    • Prescriptions
    • Immunisations
    • Allergies
    • Diagnoses
    • Recalls.

    Just ask the receptionist at your local clinic to sign you up to ManageMyHealth.

  • When you have a blood test, or any other kind of test, your results will be sent to your clinic. If the results are normal, you will not be notified. If they are not normal, the clinic will phone you and discuss next steps. If you have a ManageMyHealth patient portal, you can find your results in there, once your doctor has reviewed and filed them. Or, if after two or three days, you are concerned about your results, you can call the clinic to find out.

  • If you have a ManageMyHealth patient portal, you can order a repeat prescription online, otherwise please visit your clinic’s page and phone them.