Today, International Women’s Day, let’s take a moment and recognize the resilience and fortitude of women in recovery, especially pregnant women.
Pregnant woman who use drugs are the most stigmatized drug and alcohol users, followed closely by women with young children. The shame they feel about being “bad mothers,” even before they've given birth, can be overwhelming. In most states, pregnant women are first in line for medications for addiction like buprenorphine and methadone, which is great. But they often need more - intensive services like housing, trauma-informed mental health and substance use treatment, job-skills, childcare and services for their new baby (and other children in the family), and more. Supportive relationships with other women and in their own families are critical as well.
As a mother myself, I am in awe of women who seek recovery during pregnancy. It’s not easy. It’s a long road. My hat is off to those women, now mothers, who have done the work and are living in recovery today.
