Perinatal addiction: outcome and management.

The care of the pregnant drug-dependent woman and her newborn infant has become a major and controversial health problem requiring specific approaches to this high-risk mother and neonate. A comprehensive approach to the care of 278 pregnant drug-dependent women and their infants at the Philadelphia General Hospital has significantly reduced maternal and infant morbidity heretofore associated with pregnancies complicated by opiate addiction. Most significantly, the incidence of low birth weight has been reduced to below 20 per cent, and a decrease in severe withdrawal in infants born to mothers in the comprehensive care program has occurred. We propose that application of this approach to women whose pregnancies are complicated by drug dependency is a significant factor in successful management.