Publisher Description

Through interviews with 120 pregnant, or recently delivered, drug-using women, this book examines how pregnant drug addicts make choices about drug use, pregnancy and pre-natal care. To combat the stereotype of the negligent, uncaring and even abusive pregnant drug user, the authors seek to understand the feelings and motivations of the women themselves. How do they decide whether or not to terminate their pregnancy? What are their parents' and family members' attitudes toward their pregnancy? What options are available to them if they choose to keep the baby but kick the habit? The authors present the demographics of their study population and a description of their lives: their childhoods, drug use patterns, relationships and experiences of violence. They delineate women's efforts to manage their pregnancies and reduce the potential harms of drug use during pregnancy. They detail what they call the ""final showdown"" of birth and delivery when months of ambivalence, fear and harm reduction efforts culminate in the glaring light of an institutional setting. Finally, they address the policy implications of their findings.

Author Biography

MARSHA ROSENBAUM is director emerita of the San Francisco office of the Drug Policy Alliance, where she spearheaded DPA's work on youth and drugs and created the Safety First booklet.  She received her doctorate in medical sociology from the University of California at San Francisco in 1979. From 1977 to 1995, Rosenbaum was the principal investigator on National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded studies of heroin addiction, methadone maintenance treatment, MDMA (Ecstasy), cocaine, and drug use during pregnancy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
1. Wayward Wombs
2. Setting the Stage: Life before Pregnancy
3. The Troubled Trajectory of Pregnancy
4. Harm Perception and Harm Reduction
5. The Final Showdown: Birth and Delivery
6. "Not Good Enough to be Pregnant": Conclusions and Policy Implications
Appendix 1. Women Talking to Women: Methodological and Theoretical Perspectives
Appendix 2. PAD Project Participants
Notes
References
Index

Long Description

From Library Journal Sociologists Murphy and Rosenbaum interviewed over 120 women who had children while using drugs. Their interviews reveal how the women became addicted, how they may or may not have modified their behavior to protect their children, and how they have dealt with having children and losing them as a result of their addiction. Not all the women interviewed were from abusive or poor families; there is extensive information on how the study population was selected. Also included are suggestions on how to deal with the problem, including women-centered drug treatment and training programs to help women learn trades as well as parenting skills. Though the interviews are enlightening, readers may wish for more answers to the question of how to deal with the root problem and less about the problems drug-addicted mothers face. For academic libraries, especially those with women's studies and sociology collections.?Danna C. Bell-Russel, Natl. Equal Justice Lib., Washington, DC Review A powerful refuation of the media-hype stereotypes of pregnant drug users as selfish and unfeeling, Pregnant Women on Drugs shows the extent to which many drug-using women develop the motivation to achieve their dual goals of improving their children's health and maintaining maternal custody. -- Steven R. Kandall, M.D., F.A.A.P., and author Substance and Shadow: Women and Addiction in the United States Research-based but intensely personal. . . You will be touched by the poignant descriptions about the real lives of pregnant women on drugs. . . Pertinent reading for researchers, clinicians, and all Americans. -- Loretta P. Finnegan, M.D., researcher and perinatal addiction specialist Touching and informative. . . Drug-addicted women who have either been ignored or reviled are finally given voice to tell their own stories. Their sad, true, and quintessentially human experiences provide persuasive arguments for compassion and supportive approaches to the problems of substance abuse and pregnancy. -- Lynn Paltrow, civil liberties and reproductive freedom attorney

Description for Reader

Marsha Rosenbaum is director emerita of the San Francisco office of the Drug Policy Alliance, where she spearheaded DPA's work on youth and drugs and created the Safety First booklet. She received her doctorate in medical sociology from the University of California at San Francisco in 1979. From 1977 to 1995, Rosenbaum was the principal investigator on National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded studies of heroin addiction, methadone maintenance treatment, MDMA (Ecstasy), cocaine, and drug use during pregnancy.

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