Opioid, amphetamine use spikes in pregnant U.S. women

Opioid use quadrupled and amphetamine use doubled among pregnant U.S. women over the past decade, according to a new study.

Researchers found that opioid use jumped from 1.5 per 1,000 deliveries in 2004 to 6.5 per 1,000 in 2015, and that amphetamine use rose from 1.2 per 1,000 deliveries in 2008 to 2.4 per 1,000 in 2015. During the decade-long study period, there were 170,164 pregnancies in which one or more opioids were used, and 82,254 involving the use of one or more amphetamines. The biggest increases were in rural areas.

Michael Barnett, assistant professor of health policy and management at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who was not involved in the study, commented on it in a November 29, 2018 Newsweek article. He said that the findings serve as a reminder that the addiction epidemic has been “growing rapidly in one of the most vulnerable populations in the U.S.: pregnant women.”

He added, “This epidemic now gets directly transmitted to the next generation in our poorest, most vulnerable communities.”

Read the Newsweek article: Opioid use quadruples in pregnant Americans in just 10 years

Learn more

Poll: Drug/opioid abuse and economic concerns cited as biggest problems facing rural communities (Harvard Chan School release)

An opioid emergency (Harvard Chan School podcast)