Study Discusses Risk of Persistent Opioid Use in New Mothers

A Vanderbilt University study identifies women who have given birth as a population that can be at risk for persistent use of prescription opioids. Published as a research letter in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the study found similar risk of persistent use between women who had a cesarean delivery and women who had a vaginal delivery, in cases in which both subsequently filled an opioid prescription.

The study examined data for more than 102,000 Tennessee mothers who had not used an opioid in the six months prior to delivery. The researchers reported that 89% of women who had a cesarean delivery and 53% who had a vaginal delivery received an opioid prescription.

They also reported that filling additional prescriptions substantially increased the risk of persistent opioid use in new mothers who filled an initial opioid prescription. The researchers suggested that obstetricians consider other pain control interventions for women postpartum.

“Policies designed to standardize and improve opioid prescribing have the potential to influence exposures for a large proportion of our population,” said lead author Sarah Osmundson, MD, assistant professor of maternal-fetal medicine at Vanderbilt.