Management of the Pregnant Substance Abusing Woman

Operation PAR has been involved in prevention and treatment service development for drug-dependent women for nearly 40 years. Management starts with prevention programs. For opiate-addicted pregnant women, methadone is the treatment of choice and should be maintained throughout pregnancy, despite the manageable problem of neonatal opiate withdrawal. Women are actively engaged in innovative educational and therapeutic activities to help moms build skills to enhance their personal health and develop recovery orientation and drug refusal skills. Specific parenting skills are modeled and taught both on an outpatient and inpatient basis as appropriate.