Pregnancy can make or break the generational cycle of drug addiction.
Pregnancy can make or break the generational cycle of drug addiction: pessimists would say the odds are the baby will grow up to follow in the parent’s footsteps while optimists see it as a great motivator for addressing substance abuse.
“The role of motherhood is phenomenal in the decisions and the treatment pathway for an expectant mother or for a mother,” says Pauline McKeown, the chief executive of Coolmine Therapeutic Community. But the right support needs to be available at the right time.
If, for example, one of the drug liaison midwives working with Dublin’s maternity hospitals has a client ready to go into Coolmine’s Ashleigh House but there isn’t a bed available, a chance can be lost.
“You have a window of opportunity before the partner reappears, or the ex-partner reappears; or there is some other crisis, or there is a bereavement or some other trauma, and the woman feels she can’t cope without using heroin or methadone again,” she says.
Source: Sheila Wayman, The Irish Times, 12/05/15
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