10/14: Prof. Paris Presents “Promoting Healthy Relationships for Women with Opiod Use Disorder & Their Infants”
Pregnant or parenting women with opioid use disorders (OUD) or substance use disorders (SUD) and their infants are at high risk of many devastating side effects. However, interventions can help decrease risks and promote better physical and mental health in both parent and infant. To address these issues and their solutions, Prof. Ruth Paris will give a Grand Rounds talk presenting the work of the Growing Together study entitled, “Promoting Healthy Relationships for Women with OUD & Their Infants.”
“Maternal OUD/SUD occurs in epidemic proportions in the U.S. with dire consequences for the mother and the infant. Mothers can experience trauma, overdose, and death, while infants can experience a higher likelihood of birth complications and defects, Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS), and compromised growth and development,” says Prof. Paris. “The intervention we are testing addresses these risks and promotes a mother’s resilience and mental health, optimal parenting, and maternal-infant attachment, as well as cognitive, social, and emotional development for the infant.”
Prof. Paris will review the findings of The Growing Together study, whose aim is to understand attachment-based intervention for pregnant or parenting women with OUD based at the RESPECT prenatal clinic at Boston Medical Center. The presentation will help participants:
- Understand the effects of parental OUD/SUD on infants and young children
- Learn about one randomized controlled trial testing an intervention for pregnant and postpartum women with OUD/SUD
- Gain knowledge about one therapeutic approach to promote optimal parenting in women with OUD/SUD
The presentation will begin by describing the theoretical foundations for the intervention, move on to the study design and aims, share information about the study participants, offer details about the therapeutic approach, and then briefly present case vignettes. A brief question and answer period will follow Prof. Paris’ presentation.
Date & Location
Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021 | Virtual Webinar
Details & Registration
This event is for the BU Department of Psychiatry and is not open to the public.