Thirty two infants born to mothers taking methadone and 32 matched controls were studied to determine the incidence, timing, and frequency of persistence of withdrawal signs in infants born to maternal methadone users. Twelve (37%) infants received treatment for symptoms of withdrawal. The median length of time from birth to initiation of treatment was 23 hours (range 15-64 hours), the median l...

The United States is experiencing an epidemic of opioid use, addiction, and neonatal abstinence syndrome. Consequentially, a great deal of public, and public health, attention has turned toward the timely recognition of pregnant women who use drugs. We explore the clinical efficacy and ethical acceptability of different methods of identification-contrasting drug testing (using biologic samples ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Although the incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in the United States quintupled between 2000 and 2012, little is known about the family perspective of the hospital stay. We interviewed families to understand their experiences during the newborn hospitalization for NAS and to improve family-centered care. METHODS A multidisciplinary team from 3 hospital u...

Background Use or abuse of opioids and related drugs during pregnancy increases the risk of maternal and neonatal morbidities, including increased susceptibility to Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). Severity of NAS is determined by both environmental and genetic factors, but the level of influence each one of them has in determining the severity of NAS is not fully understood. Since the incid...

OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to assess the current status of neonatal abstinence syndrome management from prenatal counseling to postdischarge follow-up care. METHODS An anonymous electronic survey of 26 questions was sent to the medical directors or charge nurses at 383 NICUs. Contact information was obtained by using the American Medical Association's FREIDA online database and the ...