When pregnant moms face high levels of stress and other mental and behavioral health issues, their health and the health of their babies is impacted. That’s why FLOURISH St. Louis is working with organizations like Queen of Peace Center to increase mothers’ access to behavioral health services during pregnancy and as a new mom.
“Many women who have experienced a lifetime of trauma – whether that is violence, poverty, abuse or other stresses – face challenges with addiction,” said Lara Pennington, CEO at Queen of Peace and FLOURISH Cabinet member. “These women are often uninsured, undereducated or unemployed, and coping with pregnancy or a new baby creates added stress that makes it even harder to overcome substance use disorders.”
Queen of Peace provides family-centered behavioral health care for women who struggle with addiction. Each year, the organization serves 100 pregnant and postpartum women with substance use disorders. Through the help of an Infant Mortality Reduction Initiative (IMRI) collaborative grant, Queen of Peace launched a parenting education program to better serve these at-risk moms, and ultimately reduce infant mortality among women with substance use disorders.
Three trained educators provide group-based and in-home education to increase parenting competence, reduce behavioral risks that could interfere with effective parenting, and promote healthy infant and toddler development. The program intervenes during pregnancy and can follow mothers for up to three years after their babies are born, providing continuity in care.
“Often, we find women are able to refrain from substance use during pregnancy, but may revert back after having their baby,” said Pennington. “Our goal is to stay closely connected throughout these high-risk periods so we can help that mom stay sober. We also are able to teach them how to work with their children through developmental milestones, such as how to bond with their baby, put them to sleep safely, adjust feeding routines as they grow and potty train them as toddlers.”
Since launching in 2016, Queen of Peace’s parenting education program has served 50 at-risk pregnant or postpartum women. Nearly two-thirds of them have decreased substance use, and 16 had healthy substance-free births. The moms also showed improvements in their parenting knowledge, and more than 90 percent received a perfect score on their post-test. In particular, moms felt more confident in caring for their children’s nutrition, medication and sleep safety.
“While our collaborative grant ended in 2016, we will continue the parenting education program and increase our ability to handle more in-home visits,” said Pennington. “We can provide the best support for moms and their developing children when we see them regularly, and can assess the safety and suitability of their home environment.”
Several of the other programs Queen of Peace offers are also working to improve the health of moms. For example, the center now has an on-site physician who can prescribe Subutex to pregnant clients as part of a plan to treat opioid dependence. The center also partners with the Wish Center to provide prenatal care for women with opioid addiction, and transitions them back to Queen of Peace postpartum for ongoing care.
FLOURISH is working to improve access to behavioral health services for pregnant women and moms, including universal mental health screenings at OB/GYN offices and substance use counseling. If you are interested in joining these efforts or have an idea of how we can make improvements, please contact our Behavioral Health action team.