Perinatal Substance Use Disorder: Practice, Policy, and Equity Considerations for Providing Care in the Fourth Trimester and Beyond

There are devastating trends in maternal morbidity and mortality for individuals with SUD during the postpartum period. Most substance use related perinatal deaths occur after delivery, rather than during pregnancy. The postpartum period, or ‘Fourth Trimester’, includes the 3 to 12 months after the end of pregnancy, typically after birth of an infant. Although SUD treatment improves maternal and infant health outcomes as well as decreases overdose risk, many women experience lapses in their SUD treatment receipt, discontinue SUD treatment, or do not receive any SUD treatment at all during the postpartum period. This webinar will highlight promising evidence-based strategies to decrease stigma, improve screening and linkage to life-saving treatment, and recovery supports for this vulnerable patient population. This webinar will answer the following questions: 

• What are the SUD-related risk factors contributing to the rise of maternal morbidity and mortality in the fourth trimester? 
• What barriers to treatment and recovery do postpartum individuals with SUD encounter? 
• What strategies can advance evidence-based care to better support postpartum individuals with SUD? 
• What federal and state policy levers and resources are available to improve maternal health outcomes and address health care inequities experienced by pregnant and parenting individuals with SUD?