Drug Misuse and Motherhood

The growing use of illicit drugs among women has become a major concern for health professionals and social services. The reluctance of drug-using women to seek help from drug agencies and to disclose their use of drugs to ante-natal, midwifery and social services is now officially recognised by government agencies. However, devising an appropriate strategy that will overcome these fears will not be easy without a better understanding of their causes and effects. Drug Misuse and Motherhood gives drug-using mothers a voice. Based on longitudinal research and in-depth interviews it provides new insights and much-needed information in five key areas: * family life * pregnancy * motherhood * service delivery and development * implications for policy. The user-perspective of this book is balanced by the professional viewpoint on the same issues. It offers a unique source of data for researchers and fresh inspiration for practitioners working in the field.

Hilary Klee, Marcia Jackson and Suzan Lewis are all at Manchester Metropolitan University.

PART I The changing context: women, drugs and family 1 Women, family and drugs 2 Women's use of drugs: gender specific factors 3 Concepts of motherhood 4 Preparing for motherhood 5 Antenatal care: expectations and experiences 6 Drugs and pregnancy 7 Informal support: partners and mums 8 Practitioner views of pregnant drug users PART III Motherhood 9 Hospital confinement 10 Drugs and parenting 11 Relapse: missing the window of opportunity 12 Mothering and drugs: four case studies 13 Child protection: social workers' views PART IV Service delivery and development 14 Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome 15 The role of drug services for pregnant drug users: the Liverpool approach 16 The drug liaison midwife: developing a model of maternity services for drug-using women from conception to creation 17 Providing care for pregnant women who use drugs: the Glasgow Women's Reproductive Health Service PART V Implications for policy 18 Overcoming the barriers 19 Dilemmas of child welfare and drug dependence 20 Drugs policy and practice development in the United Kingdom