Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome: A Developmental Care Approach.

Tens of thousands of infants are impacted yearly by prenatal opioid exposure. The term (NOWS) is now replacing the more familiar term (NAS). Ongoing debate continues related to standard regimens for treatment of this oftentimes perplexing condition.

Novel Withdrawal Symptoms of a Neonate Prenatally Exposed to a Fentanyl Analog.

Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a withdrawal syndrome observed in neonates exposed to drugs in utero, typically opioids, which is associated with symptoms affecting the central and autonomic nervous systems and the gastrointestinal system. West Virginia, particularly the southeastern region of the state, has remarkably higher rates of NAS than similar communities. Our facility is increasingly faced with complex cases of NAS caused by in utero exposure to multiple substances.

History of postpartum depression as a contributor to the severity of NAS.

Currently, there are no clinical tools available to accurately predict the severity of neonatal withdrawal. Studies of non-exposed neonates suggest that maternal depression and anxiety are predictive of negative short and long-term neonatal outcomes, but research is lacking in the addicted population. We studied of 109 pregnant women in medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and their neonates to determine if psychiatric conditions co-occurring with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) contributed to the severity of neonatal withdrawal.