The NCHRC, North Carolina’s only comprehensive
harm reduction program, recently published an article on the stigma of
methadone treatment while being pregnant. NCHRC has witnessed a lot of
misinformation and stigma surrounding the use of methadone as treatment for
opiate addiction, but they found that the problems are even more apparent when
the patient in the treatment program is pregnant.
The goal of methadone treatment for pregnant
women is to help them avoid the negative consequences of illicit drug use,
including overdose and withdrawal, both of which can jeopardize the
pregnancy. Without having to worry about illicit drug use, a woman is in
a better position to engage in prenatal care.
Katie Clark, a research assistant at the Yale
School of Public Health, began to notice the stigma surrounding pregnant women
through her work at an opiate treatment center. “While I was working as a counselor
I started to tailor my caseload to work with predominantly pregnant and
parenting women. They shared with me that they were looked down upon, by other
people in their lives and people in treatment, because they were in methadone
treatment during pregnancy. Even though medically, they were doing the best
thing for themselves and their pregnancies, this was not the message they were
getting from those around them.”
As Katie explains, even within hospitals and
drug treatment programs, pregnant women are often judged for methadone use.
“People see an infant in withdrawal and start making comments like ‘how could
you do this to your baby.’ In one case, a social worker tried to charge a
mother with child abuse because she was in treatment during her pregnancy.”
Just as women are cautioned against alcohol
use while pregnant, many people assume that women should immediately stop using
opiates as well, but actually, quitting opiates can be very dangerous. “Opiate
withdrawal can jeopardize the health of the baby and the mother and even cause
miscarriages,” says Katie. “Methadone has been used as treatment for pregnant
women for 30 years to keep mothers and babies stable during pregnancy.”
In her work, Katie also challenges that myth
that babies are “born addicted” to opiates. “There is no such thing as a baby
born addicted to opiates, but babies with opiate-dependent mothers can show
withdrawal symptoms once they are born, such as diarrhea, stiffness, or not
eating or sleeping well,” says Katie. “A baby experiencing withdrawal is
usually kept at the hospital and, if clinically indicated, put on medicine to
make them comfortable. Doctors will keep the babies in the hospital until they
are weaned off the medicine.”
Katie created a website, www.methadoneandpregnancy.com
to answer questions about methadone, pregnancy and opiate addiction. Voices
from the Harbor is an audio documentary Katie created about women’s
experiences with pregnancy, opiate addiction and methadone treatment. In the
documentary, four women speak of their experiences with addiction, pregnancy,
stigma and recovery. Visit http://vimeo.com/41050651
to hear their powerful stories.
