Prenatal Opioid Exposure and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: A Research Project with 13 First Nations Communities in Ontario

This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial purposes only and on the condition that the original content of the publication or portion of the publication not be altered in any way without the express written permission of ICES. [...] 6 Table of contents 7 Background 8 Prenatal opioid exposure and neonatal abstinence syndrome: definitions 9 Research approach 10 Recognize the issues 11 The numbers 13 The impact of opioid use on communities 15 The impact of prenatal opioid exposure on babies and children 18 The impact of prenatal opioid exposure on mothers 20 The impact of prenatal opioid exposure on families and caregivers 21 Th. [...] High rates of opioid use and addiction are the result of a complex set of factors, with contribution from the overprescription of opioids for the management of long-lasting pain, increasing opioid use for purposes other than those intended or prescribed, and the availability of powerful illegally obtained opioids such as fentanyl. [...] The qualitative research explored the impacts of prenatal opioid exposure, the strengths in communities to address the issue, and strategies that could be implemented to further prevent prenatal opioid exposure. [...] Across communities, participants pointed to the role of some health professionals in the opioid crisis and the overprescription of opioids and opioid agonist therapy by doctors to First Nations people with non-Insured Health Benets coverage.