EMPOW
helps new mo
It’s no secret. The use and misuse of opioids has had a devastating impact on American society. Each year millions of Americans use opioids to manage pain. Doctor-prescribed opioids are appropriate in some cases to relieve pain, but the reliance on opioids has led to the worst drug crisis in our nation’s history, affecting people of all ages, races, and socioeconomic statuses. Pregnant women and new mothers are no exception.
Pregnant women and new mothers who find themselves using opioids or stimulants need support. EMPOWERED, a program at Roseman University’s College of Medicine’s Roseman Medical Group, develops and unleashes the power of expectant and recent mothers with opioid and stimulant use disorders to be active in managing their health and partnering in their care, from recovery through stabilization to resilience.
According to the CDC, opioid exposure in pregnancy increases the risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as maternal cardiac arrest, intrauterine growth restriction, placental abruption, preterm labor, stillbirth, premature rupture of membranes, need for transfusion, oligohydramnios (low amniotic fluid), and longer length of hospital stay. For the infant, neonatal abstinence syndrome – withdrawal from certain substances, including opioids – and birth defects (including neural tube defects and congenital heart defects) can occur.
EMPOWERED was created in 2018 by Roseman College of Pharmacy Class of 2008 alum Andria Peterson, PharmD, a clinical pharmacist who serves as its Executive Director, and Deepa Nagar, MD, a neonatal medicine specialist, in response to an exponential increase in infants admitted for withdrawal to the newborn intensive care units (NICU) in Southern Nevada hospitals.
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Fall 2021
