Caring for Parturients with Substance Use Disorders

Abstract

Parturients with substance use disorder require expertise to manage the complexity of intoxication, withdrawal, and chronic use as well as ensure adequate analgesia throughout labor. Opioid use disorder in pregnancy has increased more than 4-fold in the past decade, with a 50-fold geographic variability that now dwarfs other substance use in this population. Understanding not only the medical but also the public health and criminal justice implications of substance use disorder is essential to providing optimal care to this at-risk population.

Keywords: Maternal mortality; Maternal substance use; Medication-assisted treatment; Neonatal abstinence syndrome; Neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome; Opioid use disorder; Overdose; Substance use disorder.