Treatment of cocaine addiction during pregnancy

The treatment of cocaine abuse among pregnant women involves attention not only to the cocaine use, but also to the pregnancy and constellation of medical and social problems substance-abusing women experience. Writing about the needs of women who enter treatment for drug-dependence treatment, Reed has offered suggestions for women-oriented treatment services. Women-oriented services are those that "(1) address women's treatment needs; (2) reduce barriers to recovery, which are more likely to occur for women; (3) are delivered in a context that is compatible with women's styles and is safe from exploitation; and (4) take into account women's roles, socialization, and relative status in the larger culture." On behalf of pregnant drug-abusing women, Suffet et al argued that service delivery and treatment outcome could be enhanced by linking drug rehabilitation programs to obstetric and pediatric services. More recently, Finnegan have presented a multivariable systems approach, which includes medical and psychosocial services and Farkas et al have presented a comprehensive hospital-based strategy to address perinatal addiction. Programs must address not only the drug treatment needs, but also recognize that cocaine-abusing pregnant women will soon be new mothers. It is imperative that women's programs include young children as part of the target group and integrate parent education and support to develop and strengthen women's abilities to nurture and protect children. Model programs, both residential and outpatient, that provide care and services for young children exist, but these programs are the exception rather than the rule. The intergenerational nature of substance abuse certainly argues for treatment not only for the mothers, but also for their children.