Providing Prenatal Care for Pregnant Women Addicted to Opioids

Host: Patrice L Basanta-Henry, MD, MHSc, FACOG Reports indicate that there is a national upsurge in the number of women with opioid addiction. The problem is multigenerational, with consumption habits that begin as early as the mid-teenage years and extend well into the elderly population. Additionally, opioid addiction disproportionately affects women, who are more likely to become dependent and overdose unintentionally on painkillers compared to men. Host Dr. Patrice Basanta-Henry talks with Dr. Regan Theiler, Director of the Division of General OB/GYN at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center about treatment approaches for opioid-addicted pregnant women and women of childbearing age.