Addressing Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome by Expanding the Delivery of Substance Use Treatment and Recovery Services to Pregnant and Parenting Women with Opioid Use Disorder

UK PATHways would like to expand their services and the access to FDA-approved medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) for pregnant and parenting women by creating a specialized track of group prenatal care for mothers that have co-occurring mental illness and opioid use disorder that will be supported by a psychiatric nurse practitioner obstetrics providers that are waivered prescribers of buprenorphine. UK PATHways has, historically, been successful in engaging women with co-occurring mental health issues and substance use disorders by creating an individualized approach to their care. However, a standard clinic day within the PATHways program consists of a prenatal education group, a recovery group, a visit with the obstetrics provider, and interactions with various staff: therapist, peer support and research nurses. Consequently, this has been challenging for some patients that have more severe mental illnesses. They struggle due to being in a clinic setting for 3-4 hours. We aim to have a practitioner provide added support at unique times potentially working with residential facilities to meet patients where they live.