The Best Prescription for Caring for a NAS or NOWS Family.

Abstract

As a parent in the NICU, we families have an automatic friendship that simply requires the phrase "NICU Baby" for a club none of us expected to join. Along with premature infants, infants with heart conditions, rare diseases, and more, there is one embattled group: the neonatal abstinence syndrome or neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome infants. So many assumptions swirl around these infants and automatic accusations at the birthing parent. But what if we had a different way, a different prescription in helping this fragile family thrive? It is possible and it is needed.