Better Way to Help Newborns in Opioid Withdrawal

Opioid use during pregnancy has been linked to maternal mortality and risk of overdose for the mother, according to the CDC, while infants risk preterm birth, low birth weight, breathing problems, and feeding problems.

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Newborns in opioid withdrawal may experience upset stomach, inconsolable crying, seizures, and extreme discomfort. The study looked at the impacts of the Eat, Sleep, Console care approach on 1,300 infants at 26 US hospitals, and compared them with the current standard for caring for infants exposed to opioids.

Eat, Sleep, Console Approach vs Usual Care for Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal

The usual approach involves a nurse measuring a baby’s withdrawal symptoms – such as their level of irritability, the pitch of crying, fever, or tremors – before providing treatment such as methadone or morphine.

Compared to usual care, the use of the Eat, Sleep, Console care approach substantially decreased the time until infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome were medically ready for discharge, without increasing specified adverse outcomes.

The infants assessed with the Eat, Sleep, Console care method were discharged after eight days on average, compared with almost 15 days for the infants who were cared for by the standard approach.

Additionally, infants in the Eat, Sleep, Console care group were 63% less likely to receive opioid medication – 19.5% received medication compared with 52% in the group receiving usual care.

The current approach to usual care is a nurse-led way of assessing the infant, whereas the Eat, Sleep, Console approach involves the mom to assess the infant, and allows her to take part in trying to soothe the infant.

The Eat, Sleep, Console method was developed about eight years ago, and some hospitals have already implemented it. But this study’s findings could change how more hospitals practice caring for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome.

Source: Eurekalert