Perinatal addiction: providing compassionate and competent care.

Perinatal addiction is being seen with increasing frequency and is a complex issue. It involves the patient, her environment, partner, prenatal care, labor, delivery, and neonatal time periods. There are no quick solutions. These patients do require compassionate and competent care regardless of how their care provider may feel about their particular situation. This article can assist the clinicians in managing and trying to understand the conditions of the patient who has been identified with addiction issues and needs help and support after delivery. The aim of the clinician must be to provide competent care with compassion and patience and to formulate a plan of care that will support and benefit the mother and her neonate.