Dr. Rachana Singh, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, presented findings from two of her recent studies: "Improving Outcomes for Pregnancies Impacted by Opioid Use Disorder: The Massachusetts Experience" and “Partnering with Mothers to Improve Outcomes for Substance Exposed Newborns – A Pilot Program” at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2019 Meeting in Baltimore, MD. These oral presentations highlighted the work Dr. Singh and her co-investigators have done to support maternal-infant dyads impacted by opioid use disorder (OUD) in Massachusetts. The researchers assessed hospital interventions done in collaboration with the Perinatal-Neonatal Quality Improvement Network of Massachusetts (PNQIN). Both of Dr. Singh’s presentations described positive outcomes exhibited by families that benefitted from implementation of best evidence based practices for pregnancies affected by OUD.
Dr. Singh noted, “Through local as well as statewide multidisciplinary collaborative efforts we have been able to improve care provision for OUD-impacted pregnancies, resulting in a trend toward less need for pharmacologic treatment through greater focus on non-pharmacologic methods, all while engaging families as partners.”
As a health system, Baystate has been a leader in identifying the issues and supporting pregnancies impacted by OUD for more than a decade, leading to development of protocols that are utilized by other health systems. The latest efforts in this field benefit both maternal-infant dyads and hospitals by reducing the initiation and duration of pharmacotherapy and length of stay in the NICU/CCN, all while increasing breastfeeding initiation and continuation at infant discharge.
Read more about Dr. Singh’s presentation.