Overview of the Special Population
Pregnant women are among the many vulnerable populations with an increased risk of substance abuse. According to data from the past decade, the rate of substance abuse among adults was 2.8 million (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2012), making substance abuse a complex societal problem (Coleman-Cowger, 2012). In 2020, 5% of pregnant women were exposed to substance use (Substance Use in Women Research Report, 2020).
Pregnant women choose to use drugs, for example, to cope with stress or the influence of a male partner (Mburu et al., 2020). Regular substance use can lead to serious health problems for women, including toxicosis, pregnancy complications, loss of the unborn child, and neonatal fetal abnormalities. Marijuana and tobacco use can lead to an increased risk of stillbirth by a factor of 2.2 or more (Substance Use in Women Research Report, 2020). Therefore, strategies are needed to address substance use among future mothers.
Challenges in Working with Pregnant Women
Due to drug use, pregnant women may face the problem of the cost of treatment. To address this problem, strategies are needed to form free care groups that include education and social services (Ndanga et al., 2020). The cost of care may be increasing critically, and the parameters of reimbursement costs for programs such as Medicare should be changed. This strategy will be effective because it will reduce women’s concerns about finding a steady income.
In addition, pregnant women face mental health problems due to the use of psychoactive drugs (Fetene et al., 2021). The problem arises due to hormonal stress during pregnancy, which may increase the risk of developing an unstable mental state (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; SAMHSA, 2005). This calls for a strategy to implement counseling and psychological support (Doweiko, 2019).
Strategies to Overcome Challenges
Psychological support can be implemented by integrating behavioral therapy and aspects of positive psychology. Collaborative counseling, available lessons, and timely screening can reduce the severity of the problem (Fetene et al., 2021). This strategy will be effective because it will allow pregnant women to have continuous access to psychological support and the opportunity to share their problems with professionals.
References
Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2012). Older adult substance abuse treatment admissions have increased; the Number of special treatment programs for this population has decreased. Data Spotlight, Drug and Alcohol Information System. Web.
Coleman-Cowger V. H. (2012). Mental health treatment needs among pregnant and postpartum women/girls entering substance abuse treatment. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors: Journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 26(2), 345–350. Web.
Doweiko, H. E. (2019). Hidden faces of substance use disorders. In Concepts of chemical dependency (10th ed.). Cengage (pp. 251-259).
Fetene, M. T., Teji, K., Assefa, N., Bayih, W. A., Tsehaye, G., & Hailemeskel, H. S. (2021). The magnitude and associated factors of substance use among pregnant women attending antenatal care in public hospitals of eastern Ethiopia. BMC Psychiatry, 21(1). Web.
Mburu, G., Ayon, S., Mahinda, S., & Kaveh, K. (2020). Determinants of Women’s Drug Use During Pregnancy: Perspectives from a Qualitative Study. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 24(9), 1170–1178. Web.
Ndanga, M., Sulley, S., & Saka, A. K. (2022). Trend analysis of substance use disorder during pregnancy. Cureus, 14(3). Web.
Substance use in the women’s research report. (2020). National Institute on Drug Abuse. Web.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, SAMHSA. (2005). Substance abuse treatment for persons with co-occurring disorders. (DHHS Publication No. SMA 05-3992). Web.