The continued care of pregnant women receiving opiate substitution treatment by midwives.

Background: The care of pregnant women receiving opiate substitution treatment (OST) is generally provided by a variety of health care professionals. Midwives working in prenatal consultations take part in this continued care and may meet with their patients several times throughout the pregnancy, which can have a tremendous impact on monitoring. The purpose of the study was to determine whether midwives are used to accompanying women taking OST and to determine their level of knowledge and investment in this area.

Methods: One hundred fifty-nine midwives working in prenatal consultations in Lille, Roubaix, and Tourcoing received a questionnaire with 21 questions.

Results: One hundred ten surveys were collected and analyzed. The majority (103) of the midwives were attending pregnant women taking OST. They were familiar with the effects of heroin on pregnancy but were not familiar with the management of OST.

Conclusions: The training of these professionals is important in risk reduction, and they should know the management of OST. All of the midwives requested specific training.