Womens Health

The following information may be of particular interest to women and details can be found below on this page.

• Family Planning
• Maternity
• Menopause
• Smear tests
• Well Woman Check

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Family Planning Services

A full range of family planning services is available from the practice, which we hope will meet the needs of our patients. These include:

• Oral contraceptive pills
• Injectable contraceptives
• Mirena Coil
• Implanon
• Natural Family planning
• Emergency contraception

Please contact the nurse or doctor to discuss your family planning needs.

Pregnancy Care

If you are pregnant during Covid, please do not put off your ante-natal appointments. We will see you safely!

At Wheaton Hall, we offer combined Ante-Natal care, usually with an obstetrician, under the Maternity and Infant Care scheme. The Maternity and Infant Care Scheme provides an agreed programme of care to all expectant mothers who are ordinarily resident in Ireland. This service is provided by a GP of your choice and a hospital obstetrician and is delivered by our team of doctors and nurses at Wheaton Hall.

To avail of the service, the GP will provide you with an application form, which they will complete with you. This is returned to the HSE where it will be processed for inclusion in the Scheme.

The GP provides an initial examination, if possible before 12 weeks, and a further 6 examinations during the pregnancy, which are alternated with visits to your maternity unit/hospital. The schedule of visits may be changed by your GP and/or hospital obstetrician depending on your individual situation.

Where an expectant mother suffers from a significant illness, e.g. diabetes or hypertension, up to 5 additional visits to the GP may be provided. However care in respect of illnesses which are co-incidental with, but not related to your pregnancy, does not form part of the Scheme.

After the birth, the practice nurse will see your baby at 2 weeks, and your GP will examine both mother and baby at 6 weeks.

COST

All visits to the practice under the Maternity and Infant Care Scheme are free of charge

Tailored Menopause Consultation

As we have been hearing in the media, many women suffer unnecessarily throughout the menopause. At Wheaton Hall we are very aware of this and are here to help and support you navigate your way through this time. Are you suffering from hot flushes? night sweats? vaginal dryness? poor concentration or irritability? It is estimated that 8 out of 10 women experience symptoms like these leading up to the menopause.

There is help available for all women going through the menopause, in the form of lifestyle advice and medication, such as HRT. It is also a good time to ensure your health is at it’s optimum. During a typical 30 minute consultation, we will do a thorough check of your background medical history, medication and current symptoms. A physical examination will be performed including BP, BMI and Breast examination. A bone health screen will be done. Blood tests will also be taken. We can explore together the options available to you and make individual recommendations. It is not a case of “one size fits all” so we are here to help you!

• Full consultation
• BP check
• Body Mass Index
• Breast exam
• Bone Health Screen
• Blood tests including cholesterol, diabetes & thyroid checks as well as other tests your Doctor may recommend.
• Assessment as to whether a Mammogram or Dexa scan is indicated.

To allow time for all of this, please specify that you are booking for a Menopause Consultation to allow our reception staff to make an appropriate appointment

COST

 £170 to include

• initial Consultation with Doctor and Prescription where necessary
• Blood tests with the Nurse
• a follow up phone call 2 weeks later to discuss the results.

Cervical Smear Tests

We are pleased to participate in the National Cervical Screening Programme “CervicalCheck”. All women between the ages of 25 and 60 are entitled to a cervical smear test free of charge, every 3 years up to the age of 45 and every 5 years to age 60. However you must have received an invitation from CervicalCheck to avail of the free service. If you have not been contacted by CervicalCheck but you feel that your smear is due, then you should register by ringing 1800454555 or go to www.cervicalcheck.ie.

“Prevention is better than cure” is a principle that underlies many of the services available to you. Cervical smear testing is an important tool in the prevention of cancer and we would like to encourage all women who attend the practice to undergo this simple test on a regular basis (once you have a smear in the practice, our recall system is available to remind you when your next smear is due).

Our practice nurse is available for routine smear testing, so please contact the surgery if you feel that a smear test is overdue.

COST

There is no charge for cervical screening when it is part of the CervicalCheck programme

Breast Check

We would very much recommend that women avail of the national breast cancer screening programme
You will become eligible for breast screening once you reach the age of 50. Your first invitation will depend on when screening is available in your area.
This will be within two years of your 50th birthday. Screening continues up to the age of 69

click on “BreastCheck” for further details

Well Woman Checks

Our nurses offer a simple well woman check which includes:

• blood pressure
• cholesterol
• cervical smear
• breast examination