Drug treatment utilization before, during and after pregnancy

This study retrospectively explored drug treatment utilization before, during and after pregnancy for all identified substance-using women delivering at a county hospital over a 4-year period (n = 431). Drug treatment data were linked to hospital data to analyse treatment utilization. Fifty-three per cent received treatment the year before, during, or within the year after delivery, with a significantly higher proportion receiving treatment during and after pregnancy. There were significant increases in methadone and residential treatment services during pregnancy. Women spent significantly more time in treatment after delivery compared with before or during pregnancy. However, 47% of these women did not receive drug treatment. These findings support current literature suggesting that pregnancy presents an opportunity to engage women in treatment. However, there is a need to decrease the institutional, legal, and funding barriers that exist between health care and drug treatment providers. Utilizing available data to track perinatal substance use and treatment utilization are important to plan for adequate availability of treatment services for this population.