Posted on by YBP

Harm Reduction in Pregnancy & Birth

Is there a topic that carries more bias than pregnant people who use drugs? How can we combat stigma & show up for pregnant people using drugs? How do we address decades of policies that result in hospital birthing spaces that can feel hostile and punitive to this population? How we can support pregnant people who are using drugs and make it so that they feel safe and that they are actually being cared for instead of criminalized?

Carlyn Mast joins us to discuss!

  • Carlyn Mast, LCSW
  • Maggie Runyon, MSN, RNC-OB
Carlyn Mast (she/her) is a licensed clinical social worker focusing on the intersection of perinatal behavioral health, harm reduction and the abolition of the family surveillance state. In addition to being a practicing clinician, Carlyn is a trained birth doula and Co-founded the Prison Support Project with the Baltimore Doula Project. Currently, Carlyn provides behavioral health support in a Primary Care Clinic outside of Philadelphia, PA.
You can connect with Carlyn via IG and twitter!

In this episode, Carlyn shares more about her experience working within hospital birth systems to support birthing people who use drugs. Listen in as she explores:

~Facts about drug use in pregnancy
~Harm reduction strategies during pregnancy
~Examining our biases & emotions as care professionals
~Navigating hospital policies around surveillance & reporting
~Supporting families without CPS

For additional resources about harm reduction during pregnancy, check out:

~Academy of Perinatal Harm Reduction Toolkit

~Cornerstone’s Course: Eliminating Stigma Against People Who Use Drugs

~ACOG’s position statement*: Substance Use Disorder in Pregnancy
*NOTE: “ACOG recommends testing be performed only with the patient’s consent and a positive test not be a deterrent to care, a disqualifier for coverage under publicly-funded programs, or the sole factor in determining family separation.”

For exploring more about CPS & the family welfare system:

~Movement for Family Power

~Dorothy Roberts’ Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare

~Don Lash’s When the Welfare People Come

Check out this episode’s full transcript or tune in wherever you enjoy podcasts.

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Music from https://filmmusic.io
“Gonna Start” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)