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JAPNA Article: Will My Baby Be OK? A Qualitative Analysis of Pregnant Women’s Suboxone® Online Forum Posts - May-Jun 2023 (29:3)

Intentional or accidental drug-overdose is a leading cause of mortality in United States (US) women of child-bearing age. Opioid use during pregnancy is not only associated with maternal overdose, but with low birth weight at term and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Buprenorphine was approved as a medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in the US in 2002 and is, for many women, a preferred treatment option versus methadone. Buprenorphine is relatively safe during pregnancy and is associated with lower rates of NAS than methadone. Given the importance of MOUD during pregnancy, relatively little information exists regarding patients’ questions and concerns about buprenorphine treatment, including the psychological challenges they face. The purpose of the study was to describe the perinatal concerns of women with opioid use disorder who posted to an online Suboxone® forum.

Authors: Dorothy J. Moore, DNP, FNP-C, PMHNP-BC; Alice Butzlaff, PhD, APRN, FNP-C

Disclosures: The APNA planners and faculty have no relevant financial relationships to disclose. Off-label uses will not be discussed during this presentation.

Target Audience:  RN, APRN

Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this article, the participant will be able to:

1. Identify concerns of pregnant/perinatal clients with OUD taking buprenorphine-naloxone.
   
2. Provide evidence-based responses to those key concerns regarding buprenorphine-naloxone treatment and the perinatal period.
   
3. Recognize the shame often experienced by pregnant clients and communicate skillfully and compassionately concerning stigmatization.
   

Keywords: Opioid-related Disorders, Pregnant Women, Buprenorphine Naloxone Drug Combination, Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, Social Stigma

Nursing Continuing Professional Development:
1.0 contact hours.  * In order to receive contact hours, you must: read the entire article, complete an evaluation, honor statement, and earn a passing score on the post test before the expiration date. You will have 5 tries to correctly answer the questions on the posttest and a score of 80% is required to pass. Once you have passed and completed the evaluation and honor statement, your nursing continuing professional development certificate will be generated online and available for immediate printing. Credit cannot be earned unless all components of the program are completed.  

The American Psychiatric Nurses Association is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

The contact hours for this session expire: June 30, 2025.

*For an uninterrupted learning experience, please download and use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, etc. If you continue to experience issues, you may need to update your browser.