My mission is to promote awareness, education, and information about why family planning should be of paramount importance as a goal for women addicted to substances and while they are in recovery. My hope is that professionals and workers in the fields of health care, addiction, social work, law, mental health, and teaching, will join together in gaining understanding, contribute to the awareness of the problem, and share in developing solutions.

                  “Rita” is a 28 y/o currently in outpatient treatment for methamphetamine use. She has had 4 children – a 9 y/o girl and and 8 y/o boy living with their father for 4 years, a 4 y/o girl living with her maternal aunt, and a 3 y/o girl living with her father for 1 year. She is currently 18 weeks pregnant and is in treatment with the hope of being able to be able to keep and care for this baby and remain drug free.

                  “Sandra” is a 24 y/o currently in treatment for methamphetamine use. Her last use was 2 days ago.  She has 3 children, ages7 y/o, 6 y/o, and 5 y/o. Each child has a different father and they are currently in 3 different foster homes. She has a new partner that is staying with his parents, and Sandra is trying to get into a local shelter since she is homeless. She isn’t using birth control and may be pregnant.

 Using effective contraception provides women addicted to substances the opportunity to delay pregnancy until entering treatment, progressing through the initial recovery process, and after. This allows women to prevent future pregnancies until they are self sufficient, have maintained sobriety for an extended period of time, and until they achieve stability in their lives. This allows women to gain the necessary skills to care for children already in their care, to focus on reuniting with existing children that are not in their care, and to begin to plan and provide a stable and secure life for themselves and their children during recovery.

The majority of women who abuse and are dependent on substances come from a background of trauma which continues to be multigenerational. They are more likely to struggle with issues of homelessness, lack of employment, legal problems, multiple health issues including mental health problems, domestic violence, exposure to violence in general, and lack of a stable partner or support system.  As a consequence, a woman’s addiction during both the prenatal period and child rearing, is a major factor in child abuse and neglect. This often results in the removal of the child or children from the addicted woman, or the woman herself relinquishing care to a family member or someone outside the family.

Unfortunately, the situations illustrated in the above profiles of addicted women are not rare. They are alarmingly common. All of us that work and interact with women addicted to substances and/or their children, can work together to focus on solutions. I have chosen to focus my attention on access to and follow through for women in obtaining contraception, especially during their treatment while in recovery programs. I truly believe this is critical in order for women and their children to flourish.

I welcome your insights, comments, and information in response to my blog posts, so that by working together, change can occur and healthy individuals, families, and positive effects on our society will be the result.