Identifying alcohol and other drug use during pregnancy: outcomes for women, their partners and their children

Abstract

Recent changes to legislation across Australia have meant that state and territory statutory child protection services now have involvement with pregnant women: these services accept reports on, and are able to work with, pregnant women, with particular attention paid to substance use in pregnancy and the risk this may pose to the child once born. Some juris- dictions are developing intensive support programs for pregnant mothers, to ensure early intervention and planning are provided, which aim to minimise the likelihood that a statu- tory child protection intervention will be necessary after the birth of the child. An increased emphasis has also been placed by antenatal services on the early identification of substance use in pregnancy by screening for substance use as part of antenatal care. However, some authors and practitioners have expressed concerns about an apparent increasing tendency to make pregnant women’s bodies the subject of state surveillance, potentially leading to situations where the rights of the foetus are deemed superior to that of the mother (Meurk, Lucke & Hall, 2014). Little information, however, is available on the impacts of these new policies and practices or on the outcomes of identifying alcohol and other drug (AOD) use during pregnancy on women, their partners and their children. This report aims to explore these issues and their adoption into policy and practice in Australia. It is focused particularly on the outcomes of this screening activity and the current legislative, policy and practice responses to pregnant women. That is, does screening for AOD use lead to better outcomes for pregnant women, their partners and their children; and, what is the impact of involvement by the child protection system in the identification of AOD use by pregnant women, particularly in relation to bringing infants into statutory care once they are born?