Substance Use Disorders in Pregnancy
Substance use during pregnancy, particularly the use of opioids, has dramatically increased in the last decade. Learn more about the Society's efforts to develop clinical guidance and scale up advocacy efforts related to screening
and treating pregnant women with opioid use disorders (OUD), as well as pain
management during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
- Educate Stakeholders: The FDA has a public education campaign to encourage safe removal of opioid pain medicines from the home. Use this PowerPoint slide from the FDA to educate stakeholders with whom you work.
- Gathering Thought Leaders: In January 2018, under the leadership of Dr. Alfred Abuhamad, SMFM convened a two-day workshop called "Substance Use Disorders in Pregnancy." The event was co-hosted by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Society of Addiction Medicine and brought together leaders in obstetric care and addition medicine.
- Read the Complete Report of the Joint Workshop (published May 2019)
- Read the Executive Summary from the Workshop (distributed 2018)
- Experts Issue Clinical Guidance on Pain Management in the Postpartum Period: SMFM endorses the ACOG Committee Opinion on Postpartum Pain Management (#742), which includes recommendations for treating postoperative cesarean pain, the implications for breastfeeding, caring for pregnant women and new moms with opioid use disorder and more.
- Eliminating Bias Through the Standardization of Care: SMFM is a member of the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM), a national quality improvement initiative. AIM develops best practices or "bundles" that support the standardization of health care services for pregnant and postpartum women. Standardization and reduced variation in care has been shown to improve maternal health outcomes. Among others, SMFM supported the development of a bundle that addresses "Obstetric Care for Women with Opioid Use Disorders."
- Funding Research: SMFM teamed up with Aetna to award grant funding to Dr. Lorie Harper to study the use of telemedicine to treat opioid use disorder in rural pregnant women.