Jen Simon had frequently tried to stop taking opioids; She was using opioids first to help treat painful conditions and then to relieve her anxiety and depression. But she couldn’t stop until she found out she was pregnant with her second son.
“It was so easy to let someone else go,” Simon said.
This also helped Simon realize that his self-control has a limited duration.She planned to start taking medication again after she stopped breastfeeding. The woman, who continued to take the pills throughout her pregnancy, left the hospital with a high dose of opioid painkillers. No one talked to him about the dangers of opioid addiction.
What started as normal opioid use turned into abuse, using the drug in a way other than intended, resulting in opioid dependence disorder (OUD).
Before she knew it, Simon joined the 1.3 million adults, mostly women, in the United States who use opioids.
The opioid epidemic affects people of all ages and walks of life, but there is evidence that women are more likely than men to abuse or misuse opioids; This may be because women are more likely to experience chronic pain and other mental health problems.
In a 2019 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 7% of pregnant women reported using prescription opioids during pregnancy, and 21% reported misuse. Nearly a third (32%) of pregnant women taking opioids did not receive advice about the effects of opioids on their baby.
Speaking of opioids
It is important that pregnant women who misuse opioids can talk openly about their problems and be informed about their choices, but they often face stigma, judgment, and strong reasons not to come to their help.
To raise awareness of opioid use during pregnancy, HealthyWomen recently brought together clinical and legal experts on our website, “Healthy Pregnancy, Healthy Mother: Overcoming Barriers to Opioid Treatment,” to identify barriers and specific barriers to patient identification. care. Pregnant women have to deal with OUD.
One of the biggest problems solved in the Internet age is the baby’swithdrawal problem, known as Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), a disease that has increased significantly between 2004 and 2014.
Nancy Wolf, chief executive of Libertae, a Pennsylvania drug center for pregnant women, says concerns about children often overshadow concerns about parents; This is a phenomenon that started with the cocaine epidemic in the 1980s.
“We focused on the effects of maternal drug use on the mothers’ children,” Wolf said. “We weren’t really worried about mothers using drugs.”
However, women who use opioids during pregnancy also need to pay attention to their health because they are more likely to have problems or die during childbirth than other women.
Barriers to healthcare
Despite the importance of pregnancy care and substance abuse treatment, many women do not seek them for themselves or their children.
Shruti Kulkarni Esq., counsel for Aimed Alliance, a nonprofit organization that works to improve medical care in the United States, explained in a blog post that women have reason to fear legal consequences if they expose themselves to drugs during pregnancy. As a result, many women are reluctant to seek treatment for fear of losing custody of their children or having to leave their children for treatment, even though disciplining women does not deter them from using drugs.
Kulkarni also cited data from the Guttmacher Institute showing that drug use during pregnancy is considered child abuse in 23 states and Washington, United States.
Disclosure laws vary by hospital and fall outside HIPAA’s protections for patient privacy, Dr. Mishka Terplan is a certified gynecologist and addiction specialist.
Beth Battaglino, RN-C, a maternal health nurse practitioner and CEO of HealthyWomen, has seen firsthand how these policies reduce women’s willingness to seek medical care.
“Patients who try to hide [drug use] … will not agree to prenatal visits,” Battaglino said. “They just get pregnant and then give birth.”
However, reporting drug use can be dangerous for child welfare agencies. Internet experts explained that seeking help can be beneficial at least for women trying to recover, and that prenatal care is essential for healthy babies, even if the mother uses drugs during pregnancy.
“I have yet to meet a pregnant woman who uses medication without considering her own health and the health of her baby, and who does not receive information about how to be healthy during pregnancy.” Terplan reports this on its website.
Support for pregnant women with OUD
Fear of the baby can be a powerful motivator for pregnant women with OUD.
, Column Health, MD, a board-certified family physician who specializes in addiction care. David Gunther spoke to HealthyWomen but did not attend the webinar.
Nineteen counties have drug treatment programs for pregnant women, and seventeen provide prenatal care through state-sponsored programs.
Terplan said: “When people are pregnant, the doors are open.” However, the risk of recurrence of the disease is higher in women after birth.
ADS
To support people in recovery, health care providers need to be welcoming and non-judgmental, Terplan said. Both she and Kulkarni have called for drug use during pregnancy to be criminalized so that women can get the help they need without fear of legal consequences.
So many things are missing
It took Simon two years to recover after his child was born. He used a lot of drugs and became very depressed.
“I was standing at the crossroads and the other side really scared me,” Simon said.
He saw a psychiatrist who specialized in addiction, entered treatment, and began taking opioid painkillers to reduce his physical and emotional cravings.
It’s hard for Simon to use drugs right away these days. He had to leave the opioids in the system, find new markets, and be prepared to disappoint a lot of people, including his children, now ages 8 and 11.
This is the price Simon absolutely does not want to pay.
ADS
