Opioid use during pregnancy co-occurs with other variables that are associated with worse outcomes in children, specifically maternal depression and the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
Several recent studies have examined patterns of opioid use in women receiving opioid prescriptions for pain management after delivery. Â
Parenting support, maternal bonding with the infant, engagement in an OUD treatment program, and recovery-specific support systems promoted recovery in postpartum women with opioid use disorders.
This study demonstrates higher rates of treatment continuation in postpartum women with opioid use disorders if medication treatment (methadone or buprenorphine) is initiated early and maintained throughout pregnancy.
According to the most recent Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) survey conducted in 2019, 6.6% of the respondents reported prescription opioid use during pregnancy. Use of prescription opioids was more common in certain [...]
According to a recent analysis of national data by the Centers for Disease Control, the number of pregnant women with opioid use disorder (as documented at the time of delivery) more than quadrupled from 1999 [...]
This report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was published yesterday and is a good, albeit alarming, companion to the post we published yesterday on obstetrical outcomes.
In a recent study, researchers looked at the rising nationwide trend of opioid abuse and dependence in pregnancy and obstetrical outcomes in this patient population. Previous research has focused on neonatal outcomes, such as neonatal abstinence syndrome; however, maternal complications have not been well-studied. In this study, data was collected from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), including nearly 57 million American women who were admitted for obstetric delivery between the years 1998-2011. Overall 113,105 of those women (0.2%) were identified as abusing or being dependent on opioids. The prevalence increased by 127% from the beginning of the study in 1998 until its completion in 2011, reflecting the growing opioid epidemic.  The increase was mostly represented in women 20 to 34 years or age.
