Press Release: 5 - February - 2007

New Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Service for Kerry
5 - February - 2007

NEWS RELEASE

HSE South/Crisis Pregnancy Agency
5th February 2007


NEW CRISIS PREGNANCY COUNSELLING SERVICE FOR KERRY

A new Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Service is now available in Kerry.

The first service of its kind in the county, the Kerry Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Service is for women who are experiencing a crisis pregnancy and those who are impacted by crisis pregnancy. The service is free of charge, is provided by a trained counsellor and is available to women regardless of age, income or where they live. The service will be launched by Caroline Spillane, Director, Crisis Pregnancy Agency, on Friday 9th February at 2.00pm in the Dromhall Hotel, Killarney.

The Kerry Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Service is run from the South West Counselling Centre in Killarney, the Family Planning and Women’s Health Clinic in Tralee and the Kerry Counselling Centre in Tralee. The service is free of charge. Appointments can be made by texting “LIST” to 50444 for a list of crisis pregnancy counselling agencies, or by telephoning the centres directly on the following numbers:

South West Counselling Centre in Killarney: 064 36416:
Opening Hours: 9am -5pm Monday to Friday.

Kerry Counselling Centre in Tralee: 066 7122931
Opening Hours: Monday and Friday from 9am to 1pm and on Wednesday from 2pm to 5pm.

Family Planning and Women’s Health Clinic in Tralee: 066 712 5322
Opening hours: 10am-4pm, Monday to Friday and Monday to Thursday 6pm-9pm

In addition to non-directional crisis pregnancy counselling, help and support, women can expect to get information on rights and entitlements of parents and information on accommodation services.

The Kerry Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Service has been set-up by a partnership between the HSE in Kerry, the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, Kerry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, Tralee Family Planning and Women’s Health Clinic and local counselling agencies. This new initiative provides non-directive counselling sessions in all the centres.

Research carried out by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency in 2004 found that there was a lack of counselling services outside of the major urban areas. The Kerry Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Service is part of the programme to provide equality of service to rural communities. Research by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency has shown that the local availability of a service, which is free, and available to women of all ages, can increase the uptake of the service and reduce the sense of panic for a woman in a time of crisis in her life.

Speaking at the launch of the Kerry Service, Caroline Spillane, Director, Crisis Pregnancy Agency said: “Our research shows that a woman with a crisis pregnancy needs to be able to access counselling services in her local area. One of the main priorities for the Agency is to expand the number of counselling services available throughout the country, particularly in rural areas. We hope that the increased availability of services in Kerry will ensure that a woman with a crisis pregnancy can access counselling easily, regardless of where she lives. I am delighted to officially launch the Kerry Crisis Pregnancy Service today.”

Noreen White, Principal Community Worker, HSE in Kerry & Chairperson of the Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Service steering group, said of the new service: “This will be a great addition to the services already in existence, especially because it provides professional counselling and information from centres in both Killarney and Tralee thus servicing well the needs of the county".
The Crisis Pregnancy Agency (CPA) is a planning and co-ordinating body established to formulate and implement a strategy to address the issue of crisis pregnancy in Ireland through;
• a reduction in the number of crisis pregnancies by the provision of education, advice and contraceptive services
• a reduction in the number of women with crisis pregnancies who opt for abortion by offering services and supports which make other options more attractive
• The provision of counselling and medical services after crisis pregnancy.


An associated poster has been produced to help raise awareness of the service and this will be widely distributed throughout Kerry in the coming weeks. This service will be promoted by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency through the Positive Options campaign.

ENDS//

Editors Notes:
Photographers/Reporters are invited to the launch of the Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Service in the Dromhall Hotel at 2.00pm on 9th February 2007.

For further information contact: National Communications Unit, HSE South.
Tel: 021-4923733/6 Email: communications@mailp.hse.ie