SAMHSA releases opioid treatment information for pregnant women

Four fact sheets from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are designed to explain treatment options to pregnant and postpartum women with an opioid use disorder.

The Healthy Pregnancy, Healthy Baby: Opioids in Pregnancy fact sheets are titled: Opioid Use Disorder and Pregnancy; Treating Opioid Use Disorder During Pregnancy; Treating Babies Who Were Exposed to Opioids Before Birth; and Good Care for You and Your Baby While Receiving Opioid Use Disorder Treatment. The number of women in the U.S. with an opioid use disorder at the time of delivery has increased from 1.5 per 1,000 delivery hospitalizations in 1999 to 6.5 per 1,000 in 2014.

“We want pregnant women with opioid use disorder to understand that safe treatment options are available,” said Elinore McCance-Katz, MD, PhD, the federal government's assistant secretary for mental health and substance use. “The most important thing is to enter treatment as soon as possible so they can have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.”

The fact sheets address processes of treatment for opioid use disorder and for neonatal abstinence syndrome.