I’m a pediatrician -my take on Suboxone etc. 💗

Hi All.

I’m a pediatrician and was checking out this page for support because am starting to realize my boyfriend (TTC via IVF) is an alcoholic.

So I’m the “bad guy” in this situation, the one that comes to talk to new moms and say that we have to monitor your beautiful baby for 5 days minimum. Hopefully the OBs have prepared the moms for this. I even created a handout for the OBs to give mom so they can read what to expect, in terms of the hospital stay and possible withdrawal. The worst part is when I do have to tell moms that their baby is withdrawing— mom cries and then I tear up and it’s awful.

I’m personally not a fan of weaning while pregnant because it can cause the baby to withdraw untreated in utero— ive seen this a couple times. Mommas were trying their nest to help their baby but actually it is safer to let baby withdraw in a more controlled environment- the NICU. That is my opinion, please discuss with *your* doctors.

The most important thing is that baby gets the care they need. If they are withdrawing, we start a tiny bit of morphine (like a few droplets) to ease the symptoms. Other hospitals use clonidine or methadone. My hospital is doing the Eat Sleep Console protocol which is less strict than the old routines and basically makes sure the baby can eat and sleep enough to grow, and can be calm enough to let their brain relax and grow. Sometimes babies get bad diarrhea and rashes that we have to treat and sometimes we use special formula.

Breastfeeding and lots of skin to skin really help. But most places won’t allow breastfeeding IF momma has had a relapse to something like meth or fentanyl recently— because this could literally kill baby. (Some substances are more concentrated in breastmilk than in blood)

The main thing to to be completely honest with your doctors about where you are at in the addiction disease. If CFS/CPS has to be involved, being honest and having lots of drug free urine samples or being willing to go to treatment helps build trust and confidence. It sucks. But it’s a disease that deserves treatment same as any other! And there are lots of resources. If you want, please ask your OB doc to get you an appointment with a pediatrician or neonatologist at the hospital where you plan to deliver, so you can learn their specific protocol, get to know your baby’s team and feel better about the situation.

💗