It is interesting to note that of all women aged 15 to 17, about 13% engage in illicit
substance abuse, whereas a slightly elevated 15.8% of pregnant women aged 15 to 17
engage in illicit substance abuse, which may show some small correlation between
teenage pregnancy and drug abuse (Topics in Brief). The percentage of pregnant women
who engage in illicit substance abuse aged 15 to 17 (~16%) is greater than the percentage
of women aged 18 to 44 (~10%), showing that illicit substance abuse during pregnancy is
less likely as a woman grows older.
In my opinion, the best way to prevent this problem is to provide expectant mothers
who are struggling with options for support to break their addiction. Group therapy could be
highly effective, and the mother should absolutely inform her doctor about the abuse
problem so that adequate medical support and care can be provided. Treatment options
for expectant mothers with drug abuse include both medications and behavioral
treatments. Methadone maintenance can improve many of the adverse affects on the child
due to untreated heroin abuse in the mother, although usually the child will require
methadone withdrawal treatment upon delivery. More recently, buprenorphine has been
shown to also alleviate adverse effects on the child, but with less withdrawal symptoms and
shorter hospital stays. Behavioral treatments can be effective in curing the problem at its
source by stopping the drug abuse by the mother. Contingency management can be used
to stop addiction by offering incentives to women for maintaining drug abstinence. Treating
mood and anxiety disorders has also been found to reduce the risk of a drug abuse
problem beginning in the first place (Topics in Brief).
Works Cited
"Substance Use During Pregnancy." Patient Education. UCSF Medical Center, n.d. Web.
30 Oct. 2013.
"Topics in Brief: Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse." The Science of Drug Abuse and
Addiction. National Institute on Drug Abuse, May 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.