Perinatal care for women who are addicted: implications for empowerment

This article explores societal responses to perinatal drug abuse, including stigmatic attitudes and behaviors of health care workers that are directed toward women who abuse drugs during pregnancy. Health care providers' stigmatic responses can deter women from receiving perinatal care and place women and their unborn children at risk. Because poor women and women of color face a greater probability of being prosecuted or losing custody of their children for using drugs while they are pregnant, the article emphasizes societal responses to these client populations. Empowering strategies are suggested by which social workers and clients can potentially redefine perinatal drug abuse as a health problem rather than a legal issue and improve the environment in which perinatal care is provided.