Pregnancy and poly-drug use: changes in patient population and care, 1999-2008

Changes in drug use in the general French population over the last decade have also been observed among pregnant women. There have also been significant changes in the treatment of substance users. Data relating to maternal drug use and the treatment of drug-using mothers were collected based on a retrospective cohort of 170 newborns with mothers using at least two different substances. The decrease in the proportion of heroin-users, the rise of opiate maintenance treatments and cannabis, and the development of new forms of treatment are linked to shorter maternity stays for newborns and shorter treatments for neonatal abstinence syndrome. The percentage of preterm births and of children placed in foster care is also on the decrease. Changes in drug use among mothers and new forms of treatment given to mother-infant dyads may account for the decrease in treatment for NAS, the shorter length of hospital stays, and the decreasing number of children placed in foster care.