Treatment for Pregnant People with Opioid Use Disorder in Jail
While the standard of care for pregnant people with opioid use disorder (OUD) is to be on medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) with methadone or buprenorphine, the PIPS study found that this care is not consistently available, meaning that pregnant people in custody are being forced to go through withdrawal.
This study focuses on jails, recognizing that they are embedded in communities and that pregnant people with OUD entering jails need appropriate care and linkages to services when they return to the community. We conducted the largest ever research survey of jails (nearly 3,000 surveyed!) to document the availability of MOUD for pregnant people, followed by in-depth interviews with administrators. In the second phase, we are exploring the perspectives and experiences of the directly impacted people, pregnant people with OUD in jail. In the third phase, we will design a menu-based, strategy informed by this formative research, with various components that jails can adapt to their setting to provide patient-centered, standard MOUD care to pregnant people.
Additional Resources:
Funded by: National Institutes of Health (NIDA-5K23DA045934-02)
Stay tuned for more information.
