Clinical care of neonates undergoing opioid withdrawal in the immediate postpartum period.

As the opioid epidemic escalates in westernized countries around the world, chronic opioid use during pregnancy has become a growing public health issue. There are increasing concerns that chronic maternal opioid use might adversely affect the developing fetal brain. Furthermore, the sudden discontinuation of the trans-placental opioid supply at birth puts newborns at acute risk for neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS).