Addiction and pregnancy: two lives and crisis

Medical service comes consistently into contact with the addicted family at a time critical for change: pregnancy and childbirth. Neonatal withdrawal is life-threatening for the infant and very unsettling to a mother's self-confidence and her parenting ability. Medical treatment for the drug abusing mother is best coordinated with psychosocial and drug treatment in order to minimize perinatal complications, to anticipate risks to the child and to support the mother in her maternal role. This article advocates comprehensive care for the pregnant addict. It is drawn from the author's experience in the Maternal Narcotics Addiction and Child Development research project at Jefferson Davis Hospital, Houston, Texas.