Identifying Areas to Improve Care and Support Parent-Child Relationships From the Perspective of Pregnant and Parenting People in Recovery.

Objectives: Opioid use during pregnancy is a critical public health concern that has given rise to significant treatment needs throughout the perinatal period. The purpose of this study was to gather perspectives of pregnant and parenting individuals in recovery from opioid use disorder (OUD) to better understand their needs and identify ways to improve care and support parenting.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 pregnant and postpartum people receiving medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) at an outpatient buprenorphine clinic. The coding team developed a codebook using both inductive and deductive methods that was applied to all interviews. Key topics and trends were identified using thematic analysis.

Results: Four themes emerged from participants' reflections on their experiences with health care as pregnant and parenting people in recovery: (1) need for support with parenting, (2) concerns about MOUD, (3) difficulty accessing resources, and (4) value of peer support and options for receiving information.

Conclusions: There is a need to prioritize support with parenting, understanding MOUD, and accessing basic needs to better prepare pregnant and early postpartum individuals for parenting in recovery from OUD. It is also important to incorporate peer support into services to better support pregnant and parenting people in recovery.