Although JM’s lifestyle is more stable than
previously she is still using illicit drugs occasionally
while the pressure on her to share her methadone
with her partner further jeopardises stability. It is
important that the addiction service she attends is
made aware of this situation and refers her partner
for urgent treatment of his drug problem. In
addition to input from addiction services she also
requires ongoing support from social services,
especially in view of her previous parenting
problems. While her wish to hide her pregnancy
from the social worker is understandable, it is
essential that the social worker is informed. If
possible this should be done with JM’s consent so it
would be justifiable to delay referral while trying to
gain her consent. However, prolonged delay should
be avoided since ultimately notification will be
necessary and assessment should be undertaken as
soon as possible. Even if she regains complete
stability and requires minimal input from her social
worker, an initial assessment is essential with a
management plan drawn up to provide ongoing
support and/or address possible subsequent relapse.
A multiagency meeting at 32 weeks gestation
should be convened by social services to facilitate
management planning.
JM should be discouraged from detoxification
from methadone. Since she is already unable to
maintain stability on prescribed methadone it is too
early to consider reduction in dosage. Moreover,
since diazepam is more problematic for the fetus,
she should not reduce her dose of methadone while
she is still taking diazepam. She should be
encouraged to stabilise on prescribed methadone
before reducing either prescribed drug. Once
stable again she should attempt detoxification from
diazepam. While undergoing detoxification from
diazepam she should not attempt to reduce the
dose of methadone and may in fact need to
consider increasing the dose of methadone until
she is benzodiazepine free. Once she is stable on
methadone alone she could consider reducing her
dose of methadone, but only if this could be
achieved without compromising stability, and it
should be emphasised to her that stability is more
important than abstinence. If at any time she
becomes unstable, the dose of methadone should
be increased until stability is regained. Stabilising
on methadone alone will reduce the likelihood of
the baby developing severe withdrawals and to
further reduce this risk she should be encouraged to
breast-feed the baby. If all goes well she will be
caring for 2 young children so it is important to
avoid an unplanned pregnancy. Family planning
should have been discussed with her during
pregnancy and an effective method of contraception,
preferably long acting, should be commenced
before discharge. If necessary a further
multiagency planning meeting should be held prior
to post-natal discharge to arrange appropriate
ongoing support.