Hi,

I am the woman who wrote letter #207. Firstly, congratulations on your impending new life! Secondly, I can relate to how scary this is......my baby is due in a little less than six weeks, and besides the normal concerns of pregnancy, birth, and new parenthood, there is the added one of being an ex-addict on methadone. Unfortunately, due to the social stigma and stereotyping there are not a great many people (like family, some friends, or even social agencies) that you can talk to without getting somewhat patronized, dismissed, or the attitude that you're still a no good junkie who doesn't deserve to have a baby. All I can say is "THANK G*D FOR THE INTERNET", I don't know what my husband and I would have done without it. We have found out a lot of useful sites, information, as well as wonderful people, both physicians, and lay-people who have shared their wisdom and experience with us.

In my opinion the best thing you can try and do is get as much knowledge about the subject as possible. Even though some of it might worry you, I have found it ALL provides a greater relief than either not knowing, or getting faulty, incomplete, or just plain wrong information from doctors , clinic staff AND clinic patients. One of the 1st things I would do would be to order some of the TIPS and TAPS books. These are put out by the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services. You want to order (they are free by-the-way) TIPS #2 and #5. Also the NIDA monograph series has some stuff as well. I don't have the number, but I am sure the NAMA site (which Eric has a link to) does. [To order contact the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. See the Sites & Resources page for info. - Eric] NAMA might also be able to help you find information. Also, if you are literate in scientific and medical jargon there are a number of sites on the web, such as Medline [Accessible from the National Library of Medicine at http://www.nlm.nih.gov - Eric] where you can find research papers, projects, medical articles & abstracts etc. I have also found the methadone list (a subscribed list) to be of great help, especially from the other women who have been there before me. I believe Eric has the way to subscribe posted somewhere on this site as well. [See the Sites & Resources page for info on calyx.net's methadone mailing list. - Eric]

Just as important, if not more so, is finding yourself a good, understanding OB-GYN. Hopefully one with A LOT of experience treating methadone pregnancies. Even if you don't have good insurance this is possible - a pain in the butt, but possible. Also, experienced or not they should have a good attitude towards your questions, and if they don't know the answer they should be interested in finding it out, instead of brushing it off or covering up their own lack of knowledge. Since you are in the beginning of your pregnancy, you have a lot of time to do research on your local hospitals-who has the most experience w/methadone babies, what are the treatment protocols they use etc., etc. Be aware as well, that a great many hospitals will hold your baby anywhere from 3-10 days, sometimes longer, looking for signs of withdrawal. Here, too, your computer can be your best friend as many doctors and hospital staff seem to return e-mail quicker and more often than they do a phone call from an unknown potential patient. I, myself, looked into the option of a midwife and/or home birth, but there is a great deal of resistance to that here in the USA. Also, since this is our 1st baby my husband and I decided to stick with the hospital. However, if and when we have a 2nd child, whether I am on methadone or not, it is an option I will explore more fully. In that one sense, you ARE luckier and more experienced than us, having been through pregnancy and childbirth before-so in some sense you know what to expect-you may even already have a great OB-GYN. Anyhow, there is more I could say but this getting very long and I'm getting very tired. Best of luck, and keep us posted on developments!

Sincerely,
Anonymous

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Posted on: 12/2/97
Last modified on: 12/13/97