For the past six years, the Abortion Service at Broadmeadows Hospital has been providing an essential service to the community in Melbourne’s north. As part of Northern Health’s commitment to delivering comprehensive healthcare, the service offers both early medication and surgical abortion in a pro-choice, safe, and supportive environment.

Operating on Thursdays and Fridays, the clinic is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of highly skilled professionals including clinical midwives, doctors, a counsellor/social worker, and a research midwife. Together they ensure that patients receive the highest level of care and support throughout their journey.

The abortion service at Broadmeadows Hospital is an integral part of Northern Health’s ongoing efforts to provide accessible reproductive healthcare services for women in the region.

“Access to safe abortion is an essential part of reproductive health care. We are proud to offer this service at Northern Health and enjoy working collaboratively with primary health care providers and other major health services to ensure ongoing provision of high-quality abortion care to our community,” says Kate Chaouki, Clinical Midwife Consultant/Clinic Coordinator, Northern Health.

Sarah Wotherspoon, Counsellor/Social Worker, joined the Abortion Service in June 2023. The addition of social work has broadened the scope of the clinic and allows access to non-directive pregnancy counselling, family violence support and other vital assistance to patients who need it.

“We knew that social work was important in this space, but had not quite anticipated the high level of demand for Sarah’s skills in the clinic. We recently celebrated Sarah’s 200^th referral for abortion counselling/social work and could not provide this level of comprehensive care without her,” says Ms Chaouki.

Sarah enjoys working in this space and consistently receives positive feedback from patients whose experience of abortion care is enhanced by her support.

“I am proud to work with this highly skilled, supportive and kind team, providing an essential health service to our patients,” says Ms Wotherspoon.

Recently, several team members had the opportunity to attend the Children by Choice Conference in Brisbane, where they engaged with abortion providers, advocates, and academics from across Australia and New Zealand. The team was privileged to present both a poster and an oral presentation on their ongoing research titled “Co-designing Abortion Care in Melbourne’s North.” Follow this link for further information.

How to refer?

If you have a patient who is pregnant and seeking pregnancy options counselling, you can refer them to 1800 My Options, a pro-choice abortion and contraception information and telephone service. 1800 My Options is available Monday to Friday, 9 am – 5 pm, via www.1800myoptions.org.au or by calling 1800 696 784.

If you would like to refer a patient to the Abortion Service at Northern Health, you can submit an internal referral via CPF. Please follow this link for referral guidelines on the Intranet.

Pictured in featured image (L-R): Kylie Johnston, Midwife, Sarah Wotherspoon, Counsellor and Social Worker, Dr Eliza Robinson, Kate Chaouki, Clinical Midwife Consultant and Eleanor Johnson, Research Midwife at the Children’s by Choice Conference.