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Helping pregnant women overcome addiction

NASW member Tosha Hill works for a program that helps pregnant women who are addicted to drugs. Screenshot courtesy of ABC television in Cincinnati.

NASW member Tosha Hill works for a program that helps pregnant women who are addicted to drugs. Screenshot courtesy of ABC news in Cincinnati.

Cheers to ABC news in Cincinnati, Ohio for showing the public the work social workers do to help expectant mothers who are addicted to drugs and their unborn infants.

Rising addiction rates in Ohio and Kentucky have led to a major increase between 2004 and 2011 of infants born addicted to drugs such as heroin. These newborns go through withdrawal, or neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), making them more prone to seizures, vomiting, poor feeding and other symptoms.

National Association of Social Workers member Tosha Hill, BSW, works for Helping Opiate-addicted Pregnant Women Evolve (HOPE), a program at Good Samaritan Hospital that helps such mothers and their babies.

Hill has been with the program since it started in 2007. She said at any given time she is monitoring 60 expectant mothers who are addicted to drugs. The program creates individual treatment plans for clients that raise the likelihood their children will be born healthy.

“It’s rewarding when you see the outcomes,” Hill said. “It’s hard but it’s rewarding.”

Social workers help clients overcome addictions. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers “Help Starts Here” Addictions website.

 

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