Child placement issues of women with addictions

For a variety of reasons women with addictions have a significant risk of losing custody of one or more children. Child custody loss can elicit feelings of grief, anger, or hopelessness in women and can promote or inhibit recovery from their addiction. Recurrent pregnancies in women who have lost custody of one or more children and who are not in recovery also are common. Information about the women's experiences and the various types of out-of-home placements for children is provided. Such information can assist nurses in planning interventions that help mothers process their feelings about the custody loss in healthy ways and help promote mother-child attachment when reunification is possible.