An Improved Treatment Model for Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal

NOWS baby_0

The increased use of unprescribed and prescribed opioids in the accelerating opioid crisis has not spared pregnant women, and infants exposed to opioids in utero are often the unintended target of substance use disorder. Over the past decade, researchers have seen a five-fold increase in the rate of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS), previously known…

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NICU Moms Want to Breastfeed — So Why Don’t They?

The social determinants of health drive racial disparities in NICU breastfeeding rates.

Mother’s milk brings a range of health benefits, including improved brain development and a reduced risk of serious illness and infection. Providing milk can pose a challenge for any new mom, but the challenge is even greater for the mothers of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants — those born weighing 3.3 pounds or less, and usually before 30 weeks of gestation. These tiny and vulnerable babies can spend weeks or months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), creating serious barriers to mothers’ pumping and feeding of their own milk.

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