Welsh Health Secretary Vaughan Gething AM has announced a change in the rules to allow women to take the second abortion pill at home, increasing choice for women and reducing the burden on clinical resources.
After listening to the views of clinicians and women’s groups, guidance has been issued to health boards in Wales to allow misoprostol, the second medication needed in a medical termination, to be self-administered at home.
Women meeting the inclusion criteria will be required to attend a clinic for the administration of mifepristone, the first medication.
They will then have the option to be discharged home to self-administer the second medication, misoprostol. They still have the option to attend a clinic if they prefer.
Mr Gething said: “This change in practice offers additional choice to women requesting an abortion and enables them to complete treatment in an environment where they feel most comfortable.
“It will also reduce the burden currently placed on clinical resources, increase the availability of appointments for women who want to access termination of pregnancy services and enable a greater number of women to access abortion provision at an earlier point in their pregnancy.”
The Royal College of Midwives in Wales welcomed the move.
• The abortion rate in Caerphilly County Borough has fallen, deyfing the national trend which showed a small increase last year.
There were 422 terminations carried out in 2017 – a rate of 12.2 for every 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 compared to 13.2 in 2016.
The rate for the whole of Wales is 14.6.
The highest rate in Caerphilly was among women aged 20 to 24.
The lowest was for women aged under 18.
The figures show that 37.2% of the cases were classed as repeat procedures for a woman who had a previous abortion.