Postpartum Relapse Prevention

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), it is not uncommon for women who abstained from alcohol, drugs and tobacco during pregnancy to return to use after childbirth. The stresses of parenting a newborn and the resumption of activities curtailed during pregnancy can involve a host of triggers. The postpartum period presents numerous triggers for relapse in recovering women who are drug dependent. Specific postpartum triggers for women include:

·  Pain and other common discomforts of the postpartum period

·  Fatigue and sleep deprivation

·  Other chronic health problems

·  The stress of role adaptation and caring for a newborn, along with other children for some women

·  Shifts in relationships with partners and family members

·  Interactions with child welfare agencies, courts, and criminal justice agencies

·  Ambivalence about parenting

·  Temporary or permanent loss of custody, whether voluntary or involuntary

·  Reunification after temporary loss of infant custody

·  Guilt and grief related to infant illness or death

·  Other stressors of daily living

According to SAMHSA/CSAT, many of the services and resources used by women prenatally should be continued, if not intensified, in the postpartum period. Alumnae groups and in-home visitation programs have reportedly assisted women with relapse prevention and family preservation.

For further information on postpartum relapse prevention, please see “Substance Abuse Treatment: Addressing the Specific Needs of Women. A Treatment Improvement Protocol TIP 51.” from SAMHSA/CSAT.

For further information regarding related topics, please contact Karen Kuehn Howell, Ph.D., at the Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development Project, Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 1256 Briarcliff Road, N.E.,309W, Atlanta, Georgia, 30306. You can also phone us at 404-712-9829 or visit our website at http://www.emory.edu/MSACD.

The Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development Project is funded in part by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD).