A door to recovery
Pregnancy can be a great time for sobriety. Focusing on your recovery now will help you have a healthy pregnancy and also help you prepare for motherhood.
Pregnancy can be a great time for sobriety. Focusing on your recovery now will help you have a healthy pregnancy and also help you prepare for motherhood.
You are about to be a mother. This is for you, and it’s also for your child. Don’t let fear or shame stand in the way of getting what you need. This website is here to give you information and encouragement as you begin your journey of having a baby or becoming a mother in recovery from substance use disorder.
Pregnancy can be a very exciting time. When you find out that another life is growing inside of you, it’s also common to feel overwhelmed, nervous, and maybe a little sad. For some women, pregnancy doesn’t even feel real for the first few months.
Some women are undecided if they want to keep their pregnancy, and some need help figuring out how to make changes in order to prepare for being a mother.
Pregnancy can be a very busy time with doctor’s appointments, preparations to make, and changes to your physical and emotional energy. You might feel like you have way too much to do. It’s a good idea to put your recovery from substance use at the very top of every to-do list you make.
Focusing on your recovery will help you have a safe and more comfortable pregnancy. It will also help lay the foundation that you will need once you have your child. No matter where you are in your recovery, or where you are in your pregnancy, it’s always the right time to seek support and put yourself and your recovery first!
Substance use disorder treatment is an important part of your support team. Without treatment or sobriety in place, it can feel hard to do anything else.
It’s totally okay to ask for lots of help right now. And it’s so important to get the help you need, for you and for your baby.
It might be helpful to think about pregnancy as a special time, like a journey from your regular life, where you take extra gentle and courageous care of your body. After all, there’s a baby growing inside of you.
Everything you do for yourself, whether it’s finding a support group or eating healthy meals, you’re also doing that same thing for your baby. The most important thing is to take it one day at a time and remember you don’t have to do it alone.
The first important step is to build a team of supporters to help you along the way. Some people to consider on your team, a substance use disorder treatment provider, a recovery coach, maybe a sponsor, or a spiritual or faith leader who you feel close to; a family member, friend, or relationship partner; your prenatal care providers, maybe a midwife or doula. Who will be on your team?
The most important thing to remember is that no one goes on a big journey by themselves. There are teams of people who will help support and guide you along your way.
Your birthing team is there to help you during your pregnancy and birth.
Click each tab below to learn more about these teammates.
OB (Obstetrician) or Midwife
An Obstetrician or OB is a doctor who specializes in caring for pregnant women. They offer prenatal care and can deliver your baby.
A midwife can also offer prenatal care and delivery services, especially if you don’t have medical complications.
Mother/Baby Nurse
The Mother/Baby nursing team helps take care of mom and baby in the hospital.
Neonatologist/Pediatrician
Doula
Lactation Specialist
Someone who helps women breastfeed their baby.
This person can also meet with you during pregnancy to help you learn more about breastfeeding or decide if breastfeeding is right for you.
You can also work with a peer lactation coach, someone who is an experienced mother and can offer breastfeeding tips and support.
Hospital Social Worker
Clinical social workers are available at most hospitals to talk with you about childbirth and to provide a range of resources, including parenting education, groups for mothers, case management, and access to services both in the hospital and in the community. Anyone can receive a consultation with the hospital social worker. Just ask your OB, midwife, or nurse to connect you.
Your recovery team is a group of people who will support you during and after your pregnancy. Who do you want on your team?
Click each tab below to learn more about these teammates.
Treatment Provider
Sponsor
Someone from a 12-Step program who is also in recovery and can share wisdom and personal experience with you.
Peer Recovery Coach
Psychiatrist
A doctor who can help with medications for your substance use disorder or any mental health conditions.
Make sure they know your substance use history and about your pregnancy so that you get the best advice.
Therapist
A really useful support: someone who is just there to listen and support you!
Some therapists specialize in pregnancy-related issues or substance use. Find someone you click with and who understands your situation.
Other Team Players
Here’s a reminder: everything you’ve read and heard here are suggestions. You are the expert of your body and ultimately you will choose what’s right for you.
For women who have experienced tough stuff, or who have felt powerless, it can be hard to be honest with providers and share information. It’s totally normal and reasonable to want to keep control of your privacy and make decisions on your own.
It’s possible, though, that the professionals have tips or information that will help you in your journey. Talk with someone you trust about your fears of sharing information. Make sure you have a provider who you trust and who is knowledgeable about both pregnancy and addiction.
And remember that you can be a courageous advocate for your own needs and preferences. If you need help advocating for yourself, call on one of your team members. These are important skills that will come in handy when you are a mom, advocating for the needs of your child.
If you don’t think your provider understands addiction, tell them what it means for you, or ask to be referred to someone who does. You deserve the best care for you and your baby.
Prenatal visits are a great way to track your baby’s growth and to monitor your health and progress. These visits are essential to a healthy pregnancy. You might find them reassuring and helpful for building a strong relationship with your doctor or prenatal caregiver.
Sometimes, however, especially at first, people find these appointments a bit scary. Some women have trouble remembering all of their questions or speaking up for what they need.
If you can, bring a support person with you to your appointments, and make sure you find a provider who you like and trust. Be as honest as you can with your provider.
Click on each tab to reveal tips on how to make the most of prenatal visits.
Bias and Support
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:
Questions to Ask
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.
Pregnancy and Medications
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.
Now is Not Forever
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.
Your Baby’s Growth
Small changes can make a big difference!
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.
Shared Blood
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.
Strong emotions are common during pregnancy, but that doesn’t mean they should be ignored. Tell someone you trust right away if you are feeling more sad, afraid, or angry than usual or if you are having trouble sleeping or eating.
You may have heard of postpartum depression, or sometimes it’s just called postpartum. That makes it sound like depression, or sadness, that happens after the baby is born. In fact, it doesn’t always look like that. We now know about something called perinatal emotional complications which can mean any number of things that women feel at this time: sadness, anxiety, trouble sleeping, worried thoughts, irritability, and more.
70% of women tell their doctor about some emotional challenges during pregnancy and early parenting.
And it’s easy to see why! During pregnancy your hormones change rapidly as your body adjusts and grows a baby. You are also preparing for a major life event, which might disrupt or change your living situation, relationships, financial plans, sleep patterns, and more! In your body, mind, and environment, everything is in flux. Add to that the stressors, changes, and feelings that come with early recovery, and you are likely to have strong and maybe painful feelings while you’re pregnant. Remember, this is totally normal; talk about what you’re feeling with your team members and your providers.
Strong emotions can trigger urges to relapse into old, unhealthy behaviors, so it’s especially important to tell support people who can help you treat this normal condition quickly. Pregnancy is a huge deal, and early recovery is not always comfortable. But that doesn’t mean you have to suffer. If you have any unusual mood swings or feelings, talk about them with your team, midwife, doctor, and treatment providers. Keep advocating for yourself, even if you have to educate people who don’t understand perinatal emotional complications.
Check out the information revealed under each tab to learn more about using MAT during pregnancy.
MAT is OK
Using medications such as methadone or buprenorphine to assist in your recovery is safe during pregnancy! In fact, it may be the safest choice for you, especially if it helps you stay engaged with treatment. Make sure your providers know what substances you are taking, how much you take, and for how long you have been taking them, as well as any other symptoms to make sure you get the right medications for your recovery.
A special note to women who are interested in medication-assisted treatments, such as methadone, suboxone, or buprenorphine (also called MAT):
It is okay to use medications such as these while you are pregnant. In fact, if you will have a hard time staying engaged in treatment without MAT, it is the safest thing for you to stay on or get on MAT while pregnant. This way, your baby won’t be at risk if you go into withdrawal, and won’t be exposed to other infections, such as HIV or hepatitis, which might occur if you use needles. Methadone clinics all over the state have experience working with pregnant women and some buprenorphine providers know how to work with pregnant women, too. Make sure you have a provider that is knowledgeable and understanding.
If you need to get on MAT and are currently using, a detox or hospital stay might be helpful to stabilize. Other women prefer to go to an outpatient clinic and get stabilized on MAT at home. You can talk to an MAT provider to figure out what option is best for you. Make sure the provider knows exactly what substances you are taking, how much you take, how often, and how long you have been taking them.
Metabolism and MAT During Pregnancy
“Metabolism” is how your body makes new cells or produces waste by processing what you eat, drink, or take. During pregnancy, your metabolism speeds up.
As your baby grows, your metabolism increases so that it can process food not only for your body, but also for your baby. As your metabolism speeds up, you will also process the MAT dose more quickly. This is why pregnant women often need to gradually increase their MAT dose as their pregnancy progresses. Make sure you tell your MAT provider about any symptoms or discomfort, as this might indicate the need for a dose adjustment.
Will my baby experience withdrawal?
Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) happens when a baby is born and cut off from any drugs or medications that it was exposed to during pregnancy. The size of a woman’s MAT dose does not affect the chance that her baby will show symptoms of NAS. Reducing cigarette smoking does help reduce NAS symptoms for many babies. Every baby is different, but for all babies, NAS is temporary and you can help treat it.
Research has shown that a high or low dose of MAT does not change the chances that a baby will show signs of withdrawal after birth. So don’t worry if your dose increases.
Limiting habits, such as cigarette smoking, can lower the chances that your baby will experience withdrawal. If you do smoke, even just cutting down can make a big difference.
We will talk more about infant withdrawal, or neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), on the next step in our journey. For now, it’s enough to know that MAT is often the best choice for a pregnant woman’s sobriety.
What should my doctor know?
Most providers understand the importance of MAT. Make sure your prenatal care provider knows about your MAT dose. Sign a release so that they can talk to your MAT prescriber. This is very important for when you are ready to deliver and you need to get the correct dose while you’re in the hospital. It’s also important so that your doctor can plan for your pain management during and after labor and delivery.
Women on MAT give birth every day, and there are plenty of ways to help them with the pain of childbirth.
Talk to your provider about your options for childbirth and pain management, and ask to see an anesthesiologist (or pain specialist) at the hospital to get all of your questions answered.
What happens after childbirth?
You may need to adjust your MAT dose after you give birth. Make a plan with your prescriber before delivery so that you get your needs met.
After delivery, your metabolism will begin to slow down back to its normal rate (or processing speed). This might mean you’ll start to feel sleepy if you don’t begin adjusting your MAT dose with your provider. Many women want to feel alert after birth so that they can spend time with their baby, and they need to make sure their prescribers adjust their dose so that they don’t feel too sleepy. Talk with your MAT provider before delivery so that they can give the right instructions to the hospital.
You are a priority
Pregnant women have priority access to substance use disorder treatment in Michigan.