Speaker: Laura J. Faherty, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.H.P., Physician Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation; Professor of Policy Analysis  at Pardee RAND Graduate School; Associate Director of the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital Scholars at Maine Medical Center; and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine

Abstract: The opioid crisis has had a substantial effect on pregnant women, with the number of pregnant women with an opioid use disorder diagnosis at delivery Professor of Policy Analysis  at Pardee RAND Graduate Schoolquadrupling from 1999 to 2014, and the incidence of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome increasing nearly seven-fold from 2000 to 2014. The speaker, a clinician-researcher with extensive experience for this population, will discuss (1) the evolution of state policies related to substance use in pregnancy over the past two decades, (2) her research on the effects of these policies on the mother-infant dyad, (3) the rapidly-growing evidence base on the harmful impacts of punitive policies towards substance use in pregnancy, and (4) future research directions and opportunities to improve care for maternal-infant dyads affected by opioid use in the perinatal period.