Stop criminalizing prenatal substance abuse

In today’s health and political discussions, opioid abuse dominates the conversation despite being only part of our country’s substance use epidemic. Prenatal substance use remains an uncontrolled public health problem with high costs to women, children, and society. Part of the problem is the difficulty in measuring the extent of the problem nationwide. Most prenatal substance use prevalence data comes from substance treatment programs and national self-report surveys, likely leading to an underestimation of the total number of prenatal substance users. The 2012 and 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that, in the month prior to being surveyed, 15.4 percent pregnant women aged 15 to 44 used cigarettes, 9.4 percent used alcohol (2.3 percent binge alcohol drinking, 0.4 percent heavy drinking) and 5.4 percent used illicit drugs. Additionally, an estimated 5 percent of all women entering any treatment program in the U.S. are pregnant. Studies demonstrate a clear link between perinatal substance use and adverse maternal and child outcomes as well as high costs to society. Depending on the stage of fetal development, substance use can lead to congenital malformations, abnormal growth, miscarriage or stillbirth, low birth weight, preterm birth and neurocognitive delays and deficits as alcohol and most drugs cross the placenta. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out ho...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Policy OB/GYN Public Health & Source Type: blogs