A History of Preterm

Preterm's history is synonymous with the setting of quality standards for termination of pregnancy services in NSW.

Until 1971, access to termination in Australia was usually illegal, inevitably expensive and often unsafe. Judge Levine's 1971 court ruling that termination could be justified on economic, social or medical grounds opened the door to safer facilities.

Despite this legal liberalisation, pregnancy termination services often remained inaccessible until a Sydney general practitioner saw the vast improvements in termination services made by such overseas clinics as the Preterm Institute in Boston USA. He and others dedicated the concerted effort that led to Preterm opening its doors in June 1974. Since inception, Preterm has remained independent, with a strong professional base that maintains women's needs and choice as paramount.

The Foundation's educational emphasis is underpinned by its research role and the opportunity it provides to medical students, nursing students and students from counselling and related fields, to see best practice in pregnancy termination services. Preterm also provides training for local and overseas doctors in termination procedures.

Preterm is currently the only non-profit, licensed and accredited clinic to offer exclusively pregnancy terminations (under general and local anaesthetics, and intravenous sedation) in NSW.