Expand SBIRT in Maternity Care Clinics

Introductory Paragraph

Early identification of substance use allows for early intervention and treatment which minimizes potential harms to the mother and her pregnancy. Selective screening based on “risk factors” perpetuates stigma and misses most people with problematic use.

This article builds upon information provided in the SAFE Solutions article titled "Expand SBIRT Program."

Key Information

The goals of SBIRT are directly applicable to the use in maternity care and include:

• Educate people about the risks of alcohol and other drugs
• Make people aware of their use and whether it may be creating health risks for them
• Decrease general use so as to reduce the societal risk and burden of the effects of overuse
• Identify individuals who have dependence and provide rapid access to care

Relevant Research

This study showed that real-time ultrasound feedback focused on the potential effects of smoking on the fetus may be an effective treatment adjunct to improve smoking outcomes. This could be adapted and used to treat people with other types of SUDs as well.

Impactful Federal, State, and Local Policies

SAFE Solutions is an ever-growing platform. Currently limited information is readily available for this section. SAFE Project is dedicated to providing communities with the most relevant and innovative materials. We will continue to regularly monitor and make updates accordingly with community input and subject matter expert collaboration. Please check back soon.

Available Tools & Resources

SAFE Project:

• Bridging Prevention and Recovery (BPR): A Community Approach to Systems Change. This SAFE Project program, offered in-person and virtually, guides community leaders through an action-oriented model to systemically integrate prevention and recovery systems to strengthen programs and improve outcomes. BPR is a 3.5 day training program that culminates with 6 technical assistance sessions tailored to each community’s unique set of needs to support implementation and sustainability of joint prevention and recovery community projects.
• See the wiki titled "Expand SBIRT Program" for more detailed information on the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) tool used as an prevention/early intervention method at screening for substance misuse in the general population.

Additional Tools & Resources:

• New England’s SBIRT-based Prenatal Screening Outline. This provides recommended tools, how to align them with SBIRT, a process map, examples, billing/coding guides, brief intervention guide, and treatment referral plan.

Promising Practices

• Medical students. A study in an obstetrics and gynecology rotation documented the benefits of placing students in a residential treatment center for pregnant people. The results of their specialized training showed improvements in assessing and educating patients about substance abuse during pregnancy compared to those in a regular rotation.

 

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