Contact: Julia Dudley
Email: julia.dudley@maine.gov
Pregnant women, fetuses, and newborns are among those affected by the substantial increase in opioid-related morbidity and mortality in the United States (US) during the last decade. From 2010 to 2017, the rate of maternal opioid use disorder (OUD) in the US increased 131%, while the rate of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) increased by over 82% [1]. The prevalence of maternal OUD and NAS remains important to estimate and characterize because maternal opioid use during pregnancy and concomitant opioid exposure to the fetus increases the likelihood of adverse outcomes, such as maternal death, low birth weight, preterm birth, and neonatal intensive care unit admission [2,3,4]. Because maternal OUD and NAS are typically documented separately in administrative databases, few analyses have assessed trends using mother-infant pairs.