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Published on: November 11, 2013
Pregnancy and birth under maintenance treatment with diamorphine (heroin): a case report
Christina Hartwig1, Christian Haasen, Jens Reimer
1Zentrum fur Interdisziplinare Suchtforschung der Universitat Hamburg (ZIS), Klinik fur Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitatsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Background:
Heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) is a new form of treatment for heroin-dependent patients not responding to conventional interventions such as methadone maintenance treatment. No pregnancies or births under HAT have been reported until now.
Case:
The pregnancy course of a 31-year-old severely dependent multi-morbid woman receiving HAT and the birth of a healthy baby after premature delivery is described. HAT helped to reduce the use of illicit substances both before and during pregnancy. The neonatal abstinence syndrome was clinically well compensated.
Conclusion:
HAT seems to be feasible in pregnant women and normal birth is possible under HAT, which therefore may act as a harm reduction measure for polydrug-using pregnant women not responding to methadone maintenance treatment.
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