Addiction Treatment For Pregnant Women


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Pregnant woman holding a bottle of pills

ADDICTION TREATMENT DURING A PREGNANCY

At The Best Treatment Center, one of the Specialized Programs we offer is Addiction Treatment for women who are currently Pregnant. Struggling with a substance abuse or addiction disorder is a battle itself, adding pregnancy into the equation increases the delicacy of the situation. In most cases, when a woman finds out she becomes pregnant, there are usually a number of changes made to keep their developing babies as safe as possible. These changes are usually seen in diets, fitness routines, and the consummation of caffeine among other things. There are a number of foods that cause health risks to the unborn child but even more so would be the consummation of drugs, alcohol, and nicotine.

Addiction Treatment during Pregnancy

Common Issues During Pregnancy

Pregnancy should be a happy time for the expecting couple. The attention of the mother should be focused solely on the health of her unborn child. Often times (more than one would think) substance abuse before the pregnancy is an issue, if the substance abuse continues it can be drastically harmful to the baby and result in birth defects and in some cases even death.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is caused when the mother is consuming alcohol during the early stages of pregnancy. This can cause facial deformation, educational and language delays, behavioral issues and many more unpleasant attributes that no one would want their children to suffer with.

The use of pain killers (opiates) during pregnancy can result in neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) which is a drug withdrawal syndrome in newborns. The poor babies are born into withdrawal and are below birth rate averages and oftentimes have uncontrollable shaking. With the recent opioid epidemic since 2014, babies are being born five times more addicted to opioids than they were ten years ago. That breaks down to one baby being born addicted every 15 minutes according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

From the above statistics, it is seen that It’s clear that many women do participate in drug use during pregnancy, and even continue the abuse after birth. From society looking in, many don’t understand why a woman would continue drug use after finding out she is pregnant. The chemical bond that comes with an addiction disorder are often so strong that without a proper medical detox the craving and withdrawal symptoms are too great to conquer alone.
It’s easy for people who do not have their own addiction issues to wonder why these women won’t stop abusing drugs in order to protect their babies.

 

General Drug and Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms in Pregnant Women:

These symptoms are usually very intense, so much in fact that when these are experience the woman would return to the substance use or abuse. Many women believe that the stress of the withdrawal would be too much for their body that miscarriage could occur. Treatment for Pregnant Women is crucial because it cannot be done with will-power alone in most cases.

  • Insomnia

  • Restless Leg Syndrome

  • Nausea

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

  • Body Aches

  • Profuse Sweating

These symptoms are usually very intense, so much in fact that when these are experience the woman would return to the substance use or abuse. Many women believe that the stress of the withdrawal would be too much for their body that miscarriage could occur. Treatment for Pregnant Women is crucial because it cannot be done with will-power alone in most cases.

WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS OF AN ALCOHOL OR DRUG ADDICTED BABY

Seeing a baby born to an addicted mother is a hard sight to see. Unborn babies can develop their own addiction to the substances that the mother has abused over the course of the pregnancy. The worse addiction results come from opioid based substances. After birth and being removed from the source of the drugs (the mother) they develop severe withdrawal symptoms.

Babies that are born to mothers with addiction treatment during the pregnancy are significantly healthier than those born to mother who continue to use throughout the pregnancy

Withdrawal Symptoms in Newborns:

  • Trembling

  • Blotchy skin color

  • Diarrhea

  • Seizures

  • Rapid breathing

  • Slow weight gain

  • Low birth rate

  • Emotional detachment

  • Issues bonding with mother/parent

Therapy for Pregnant Women Struggling with Addiction

There are a variety of therapeutic tools to help addicted mothers. One on One therapy and peer group therapy has been proven successful for women who struggle with addiction. At The Best Treatment Center, therapy educates the woman on how dangerous using drugs are for their unborn children. We also implement all the therapies we specialize in according to their specific needs. We teach relapse prevention tools, but also encourage women to gain more education when it comes to what it takes to be a parent.

Pregnancy is such a crucial time for the woman to seek treatment because after the baby is born, life will be extremely different than what the active addict is used to. There are so many aspects that go into healing from a drug or alcohol addiction, and even more when a woman is pregnant.

At The Best Treatment Center we have a non judgemental approach to treating addiction, we combine education and listening so previous traumas are addressed but also so moving forward they are ready for this next chapter in their life.

Addiction Assessment for a Pregnant Client

During the initial phase of treatment at The Best Treatment Center, we have our medical and clinical professionals do a complete background on each client. We know each client is different and therefore, each client has an unique treatment plan customized to their specific needs. Drug use, time abusing drugs, pregnancy time all go into the treatment program.

The initial assessment is always slightly more complex for women who are pregnant. Treatment Plans also include OBGYN visits specifically just because of the pregnancy. Most individuals in active addiction are not taking care of their health. So most women who come into treatment pregnant have had little if any medical oversight for the pregnancy. We understand this and make sure our clients visit with a doctor as soon as treatment begins. These doctor visits go on throughout the treatment program so the health of the baby and mother are monitored.

At The Best Treatment Center we believe in a holistic approach to treatment, which entails treating the whole individual- mind, body and spirit. Our therapists and case management teams assist all of our pregnant clients in gaining access to available county/state programs that provide assistance with a number of categories such as further education, food stamps, housing, parenting and job placement. These programs are beneficial and add tools that women can use post treatment and as they continue to live life sober and clean. At The Best Treatment we do a great job with aftercare and follow up so we can ensure that clients stay on track, even when therapy has ended. We love to see mothers being great parents and the babies successfully growing into healthy children.

At The Best Treatment Center, we believe in healing the entirety of an individual, mind, body, and spirit. We provide a safe, comfortable and serene environment for the women recovery from addiction. Our customized treatment plans find the core root of the addiction so the recovering addict can be given the tools needed for a successful recovery.

To learn more about our Addiction Treatment Program for Pregnant Women. We have admissions counselors standing by.

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