A door to recovery

For some women, the scariest part of the prenatal visit is telling their provider about their substance use disorder. Some women have a hard time remembering all of the questions they want to ask. Still other women worry if their provider understands their situation well enough to give good advice. Here are some helpful tips:

• You can bring a support person to your appointments. Perhaps a partner, family member, sponsor, friend, or recovery coach can come along and take notes, encourage you, or just sit and provide moral support.
• Doctors might need education from you! Not all medical providers have the same expertise or experience. You may want to ask your doctor if they understand addiction and how it can affect pregnancy. If you feel uncomfortable with the knowledge or attitudes of your provider, try and find a different one that you feel more comfortable with!
• In addition to education, some providers still carry biases about addiction or recovery: attitudes that might limit their ability to be helpful to you. It’s important to stay positive and not fight with any provider. If you feel able to have an open conversation with your provider, you might change their attitude, which could help many women who will come after you. If, however, their behavior makes it unsafe or uncomfortable for you to stay in their care, request a different provider.

Your pregnancy, along with early recovery if you are in treatment, can feel like a string of endless meetings and appointments. It’s common to feel tired of going to all of these appointments and repeating the same information over and over. Keep this in mind, though: your prenatal and recovery appointments are small steps toward becoming a sober mom. They are little acts of love, for you and for your baby.

We encourage you write down any questions you have, and bring it to your appointment. Your providers can help you understand everything and answer all of your questions.

Your body is strong and smart; you can understand what’s going on with your body, and you have a right to that information.

Babies do best when mom feels well. Go over all your medications and supplements with your prenatal provider, and make sure your prescribing doctors know you are pregnant.

If you’re taking any medications or supplements, finding out that you’re pregnant can raise a lot of questions. It is important to tell your prescribing doctors right away that you’re pregnant and have an honest conversation about the risks and benefits of all of your medications. Some medications pose no risks to pregnancy, some can be unsafe, and some are worth taking even if they pose some risk because of how important they are to your health and well-being.

The most important thing to remember is that your health—your physical, mental, emotional well-being—is critical to the growth and development of your baby. Babies do best when mom feels well. If you are honest with your doctor, you can work together to decide which medications are safe to continue taking and which ones you might want to switch or slowly stop using. You are the expert on your body and mind; doctors can help provide the information you need to make the right choices for you.

Remember, what is now is not forever. Pregnancy and infancy are a small part of the 20 plus years of raising a child. But choices you make now can have long-lasting effects.  

Ask your prenatal care provider to write down the care you get at each appointment so that you can keep a record. Also, share this information with your treatment provider, if you have one, so that all of your providers can work together to make sure you get the medications and care that you need. Even though it’s a good idea to share information, you have the right to consent before your providers speak with one another. We have a sample information release form in the Resources section  that explains exactly how to give your providers permission to talk about your care.  

After your baby is born, there are usually discussions about custody, and deciding if you are prepared to begin parenting your baby right away. It can be helpful during this time to have a packet of records that show the efforts you made during your pregnancy to protect your health and the health of your baby.  

Small changes can make a big difference!

• Drink lots of water
• Take prenatal vitamins
• Get enough sleep
• Go for a walk, or get another kind of exercise
• Quit smoking, or at least cut down
• Talk with your provider about ways to reduce drug or alcohol use safely
• Go to your prenatal appointments as these are important, no matter what else is going on!

Sometimes we are in a place in our life where changing what we take or eat seems very hard. It’s important not to be too hard on yourself. Remember that any little change you can make, like smoking fewer cigarettes, drinking lots of water, taking prenatal vitamins, or getting a little extra sleep can really pay off!

Perhaps, without taking on too much at once, think about a little change that feels doable and try it for a week or so. You are stronger and more capable than you think you are.

Keep in mind that nicotine, alcohol, and other drugs can affect how your baby grows. Smoking tobacco or marijuana during pregnancy reduces how much oxygen your baby gets, which can affect growth. It may also impact whether or not you will be able to breastfeed once your baby’s born.

If you think your body might be dependent on a substance that you’re taking (for example, if you shake whenever you stop drinking alcohol or go through withdrawal when you don’t take a particular drug), make sure you talk to your provider before you try to quit or cut back. It’s best for you and your baby’s health to make changes slowly and with medical supervision.

Another thing to keep in mind is that getting good prenatal care matters even more than whether or not you are completely sober. So don’t let fear or shame keep you from getting help.

Your baby is growing. And the materials that will become your baby’s body come partly from your genes and partly from everything you eat, drink, and smoke while you are pregnant. 

Life in the womb is a time of tremendous growth and change. Your baby gets a safe place to grow in your uterus, and also gets all of the oxygen and nutrients to nourish their growth through your bloodstream!  

Wait, WHAT? My baby lives off of my blood??  

Well, yeah. There is something growing on the inside of your uterus, along with your baby, called the placenta. It looks like a red balloon, lined with blood vessels. The “string” of the balloon is the umbilical cord, which is attached to what will become your baby’s belly button. Through that cord, your blood with all of its vitamins, fats, nutrients, proteins, oxygen-filled red blood cells, germ-fighting white blood cells, and more, gets passed along to your baby.  

Until your baby is born, they are a part of your body. You share blood. And, since they can’t eat or drink or smoke on their own, they get whatever you give yourself. And whatever you take in, those are the building materials for your baby’s body.  

It sounds confusing, but it’s really pretty simple. A baby’s cells develop partly through the genes of their parents and partly through the nutrients or toxins passed along through your blood.  

That sounds like a giant responsibility and, in some ways, it is. But it’s important to remember in order to grow a healthy and strong baby, it’s good enough to be good enough.  

We will give you some tips, and your prenatal care provider (your doctor or midwife) can offer more ideas of how to take good care of your body and your baby. For now, start where you are. Be as gentle with yourself as possible and take everything one step at a time.