- Freephone 0800 270 200 to enrol and/or book an appointment with BreastScreen Midland.
- You can enrol when you visit your GP. He/she may also send you a letter to advise that you may be eligible to join the BreastScreen Aotearoa programme.
- Enrol online by visiting the BreastScreen Aotearoa website
- If you have been previously screened by BreastScreen Aotearoa you will receive a letter inviting you for another mammogram when you are due.
Breast screening
Breast screening
BreastScreen Aotearoa is a free national breast screening programme that checks women between 45 and 69 years for early breast cancer. The programme aims to reduce the number of women who die from breast cancer.
In the Waikato, the programme is managed by a regional BreastScreen Midland service.
You can have a free screening mammogram every two years through the BreastScreen Aotearoa programme if you meet the following criteria:
- aged 45 – 69 years
- no symptoms of breast cancer
- not had a mammogram in the last 12 months
- not pregnant or breastfeeding
- eligible for public health services in New Zealand
(Details of eligibility are available at www.moh.govt.nz/eligibility)
You need to be enrolled and make an appointment on 0800 270 200.
Eligible women in Waikato can have a free mammogram at two fixed sites in Hamilton or on one of the two mobile units:
- Breast Care Centre, Waikato Hospital
- Mobile breast screening service visits 24 towns. Click here to view the schedule.
Support to Screening Services are contracted to provide additional assistance to eligible women in the Waikato region.
- Hauraki Primary Health Organisation – 07 392 9984
- Pinnacle Midland Health Network – 0800 646 764
BreastScreen Midland also provides breast screening services across the Bay of Plenty DHB and Lakes DHB regions.
Click here to view a map of the screening service locations.
Mammograms are breast x-rays which can show changes in the breast before anything can be seen or felt. In most cases the changes will not be cancer.
At your appointment, you will be asked to fill in a form. You will remove your upper clothing in a private changing area, and put on a wrap ready for the x-ray.
In the x-ray room, an experienced staff member will show you where to place each breast, one at a time, on or against the x-ray plate.
To get a high quality x-ray, your breast must be made flatter. This is done by the x-ray machine firmly but gently squeezing your breast between two plates. This can be uncomfortable, but it only lasts a few seconds, and it is important.
A mammogram
- can detect breast cancer early, which means a very good chance of successful treatment
- are particularly effective in women 50 years and over who have mammograms every two years
- can detect about 75 percent of unsuspected cancers in women under 50 and 85 percent in women over 50
- cannot prevent you getting breast cancer and cannot always prevent death from breast cancer.
Some breast cancers develop during the time between screening mammograms, so it is important that you are breast aware. If you notice any breast symptoms (changes that are not normal for you), see your doctor as soon as possible.
Symptoms could include:
- a new lump or thickening
- a change in breast shape or size
- pain in the breast that is unusual
- puckering or dimpling of the skin
- any change in one nipple, such as a turned-in nipple or a discharge that occurs without squeezing
- a rash or reddening of the skin that appears only on the breast