Maternity services for drug misusers in England and Wales: a national survey

A postal questionnaire was sent to the 213 National Health Service maternity units in England and Wales to identify their current involvement with drug misusers. The response rate was 89.5%. Data indicated that only 29% had formal links with their local drug agency. Child protection case conferences were automatically convened in 52%, and 57% routinely admitted babies to high dependency areas. Twenty-seven per cent of the units did not offer hepatitis B screening to pregnant women, and 32% did not offer hepatitis B prophylaxis to babies whose mothers were infected. Local Health purchasing authorities should ensure that their providers are offering appropriate services to pregnant drug misusers in order to encourage such women to seek help without fear of discrimination. Liaison between health care agencies should be encouraged and areas with low levels of drug misuse should receive help with formulating policies, and training, from units with more experience.