Improving Hospital Care of Opioid-Exposed Newborns: Successes and Remaining Questions

Between 1999 and 2014, the rate of opioid use among US pregnant women at the time of delivery quadrupled. It is currently estimated that nationwide, 14% to 22% of women fill an opioid prescription during pregnancy. For newborns exposed to intrauterine opioids, the immediate risks include the postnatal withdrawal syndrome known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), which is currently estimated to affect one US birth every 15 minutes.1 Clinical...