Education Essential to Cutting Drug Use In Pregnancy

From The Charleston Gazette:

“Education is key to reversing the state’s growing problem of drug use among pregnant women, a state advocate for healthy childbirth said Wednesday.

“I think a lot of it has to do with education,” said Sandy Young, a member of the Drug Use in Pregnancy committee of the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership. “We educate the communities, and we educate students. There’s discussion that we need to start these conversations with our young people in grade schools even.”

Statewide, admitted drug use among pregnant women grew from 5 to 9 percent between 2007 and 2010, according to surveys given to new mothers, Young said.

…While drug use during pregnancy is a big problem in the state, Young said treatment options are expanding.

The Perinatal Partnership, for instance, has given grant funding to six programs to help them start, Young said.” Read the full story »

For more information about our efforts to reduce substance abuse during pregnancy, visit our Substance Use During Pregnancy page.