Substance Use in the Perinatal Period: Harnessing Technology to Address Barriers to Care
Substance use during pregnancy and postpartum has increased in recent years and is a primary risk factor for child abuse and neglect and removal by the child welfare system. While many people are able to reduce their substance use during pregnancy, more than half relapse during the early postpartum period. Less than 20% of women who need substance use treatment receive it, and this gap is greatest for low-income minority women. Pregnant people and new mothers often conceal their substance use and do not seek treatment or other support from formal systems of care due to stigma and fear of child removal. Mothers of color are particularly unlikely to seek help from traditional systems of care due to longstanding racial discrimination. There is an urgent need for innovative new approaches for reaching pregnant and postpartum people of color to offer needed support for substance use in ways that are respectful, empowering, and culturally-sensitive. Use of technology to deliver evidence-based brief interventions for maternal substance use has potential to meet this need. This presentation will discuss key challenges to addressing substance use in the perinatal period, barriers to care for this population, and the intersecting roles of the different systems involved in addressing substance use in pregnancy and the postpartum period. Finally, we will discuss the benefits of digital interventions for reducing gaps in care for this population, and present some case examples from Partnership to End Addiction’s work in this area.
Virtual
Event Details