Looking for evidence-based, quality information for pregnant and parenting people around substance use? The Pregnancy and Substance Use Toolkit is intended for use by pregnant and parenting people who use drugs, their loved ones. This toolkit is also meant to be an educational resource for birth and healthcare workers, community based organizations, and advocates working to improve the lives of people who use drugs.

Pregnant people and their families can use this information to understand their rights, access services, and find high-quality, evidence-based care. These materials can be shared with family members and service providers in order to start important conversations about your plans, hopes, goals, and dreams.

In the Pregnancy and Substance Use Toolkit, you will learn about:

Your right to quality, trauma-informed perinatal care
Evidence-based considerations for ending a pregnancy
Effective harm reduction strategies for alcohol, benzodiazepines, cannabis, opioids, stimulants and tobacco + nicotine use
Options for treatment during pregnancy
Approaches for navigating the health care and legal systems, including Child Protective Services, drug testing, and other systems
Prenatal care plan worksheets
Pain management options and expectations during labor and birth
Care considerations for the first year after birth

In this toolkit, we use the term “pregnant people,” not “pregnant women,” in order to be inclusive of people of all genders who have the capacity to become pregnant.

This work was developed by National Harm Reduction Coalition and Academy of Perinatal Harm Reduction and was written, edited and informed by people who have lived experience of substance use and pregnancy. This toolkit was developed in New York State, so some of the resources linked are specific to New York State.

.Save the Date: NHRC + APHR will be hosting a series of four events for harm reductionists, birth workers, advocates, clinicians and community members. These events will give an overview of the toolkit, offer an opportunity for birth workers to connect, highlight community based programs doing this work, and hold space for community members who have experienced harms at the hands of the War on Drugs.
There will be English to Spanish live translation for all of the events.

Visit our event calendar to RSVP for these events: [link removed].


National Harm Reduction Coalition
243 Fifth Avenue
Box 529
New York, NY 10016
United States
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