Objectives: The public health burden of opioid use disorder (OUD) among pregnant women has significantly increased in recent years. The Optimizing Pregnancy Treatment Interventions for Moms study was a pilot project that examined the feasibility of a patient navigation (PN) intervention model to reduce substance use and improve mental health, quality of life, and to increase engagement with treatment services among pregnant women with OUD.
Methods: A 1-group repeated-measures pilot study was conducted with treatment-seeking pregnant women with opioid dependence initiating buprenorphine maintenance treatment. Participants received the PN intervention delivered as 10 sessions before delivery and 4 sessions postpartum. Participants completed assessments at baseline and after the prenatal and postnatal portions of the intervention. Demographics were assessed using descriptive statistics, and general estimating equation analyses were employed to examine changes in health and service engagement across time.
Results: in all, 21 women were enrolled and completed the PN intervention and follow-up assessments. Participants reported improvements in abstinence from illicit opioids (B = 0.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.1-0.2), drug use (odds ratio [OR] 5.25, 95% CI 2.1-13.0), and depression (OR 7.70, 95% CI 2.4-25.1). Results also showed nonsignificant trends suggesting enhancements in general health (B = 0.17, 95% CI 0.0-0.3, P = 0.06) and increases in substance use treatment attendance (B = 2.15, 95% CI -0.2 to 4.5, P = 0.07). Most study participants achieved adequate or better prenatal care.
Conclusions: These findings provide support that PN is a feasible adjunctive intervention that shows promise for health improvements and service engagement among treatment-seeking pregnant women with opioid dependence initiating buprenorphine.