Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:26 pm
No tapering! It's very dangerous to taper dose during pregnancy, especially first trimester. Your body is already going through enough changes. I had a bad experience trying to taper 1st trimester, not knowing any better.
I do think there is at least an inquiry done on every baby that is born with some sort of drug in their system. Cord blood is tested, and babies are flagged. Broadly speaking, it's in the hospital's/state's interests to protect the health and safety of the infant. What happens after that varies from hospital to hospital, state to state. Perhaps even caseworker to caseworker.
My OB has told me to at least expect someone from social services to visit me in the hospital for an interview. I told her that I want her to advocate for me with the hospital/social services staff. She reassured me that no one is going to give me a hard time. "There are mothers you worry about, and then there are mothers you don't worry about." I am still a nervous wreck, however.
There is also another forum for mothers on methadone:
http://www.methadonesupport.org/Pregnancy.html
It is mostly geared towards women with addiction/higher dosages, but there is a nurse on the board, Jessica, who is very supportive. She will, however, tell you that there is *no* correlation between maternal dose and NAS (withdrawals), giving you anecdotal information. There's also some horror stories there of social services, and lengthy NICU stays (5 weeks?!). It's hard to say why these things happen, but like I said, it's a board for mostly drug-addicted women, so I am guessing there are other factors that are contributors (poly-drug use, poor prenatal care, instability, etc).
I didn't want to get into an argument with this Jessica, but do have a number of published medical studies, however, that do show a positive correlation between dose, fetal age at delivery, and even method of delivery. I think the lowest dose that can hold you is best.
And congratulations on your twins!
I do think there is at least an inquiry done on every baby that is born with some sort of drug in their system. Cord blood is tested, and babies are flagged. Broadly speaking, it's in the hospital's/state's interests to protect the health and safety of the infant. What happens after that varies from hospital to hospital, state to state. Perhaps even caseworker to caseworker.
My OB has told me to at least expect someone from social services to visit me in the hospital for an interview. I told her that I want her to advocate for me with the hospital/social services staff. She reassured me that no one is going to give me a hard time. "There are mothers you worry about, and then there are mothers you don't worry about." I am still a nervous wreck, however.
There is also another forum for mothers on methadone:
http://www.methadonesupport.org/Pregnancy.html
It is mostly geared towards women with addiction/higher dosages, but there is a nurse on the board, Jessica, who is very supportive. She will, however, tell you that there is *no* correlation between maternal dose and NAS (withdrawals), giving you anecdotal information. There's also some horror stories there of social services, and lengthy NICU stays (5 weeks?!). It's hard to say why these things happen, but like I said, it's a board for mostly drug-addicted women, so I am guessing there are other factors that are contributors (poly-drug use, poor prenatal care, instability, etc).
I didn't want to get into an argument with this Jessica, but do have a number of published medical studies, however, that do show a positive correlation between dose, fetal age at delivery, and even method of delivery. I think the lowest dose that can hold you is best.
And congratulations on your twins!