This book combines accounts from drug using mothers and practitioners responsible for their care offering many insights into the nature of women's dependence on drugs and the impact this has on mothering.

PART I The changing context: women, drugs and family 1 Women, family and drugs 2 Women’s use of drugs: gender specific factors 3 Concepts of motherhood 4 Preparing for motherhood 5 Antenatal care: expectations and experiences 6 Drugs and pregnancy 7 Informal support: partners and mums 8 Practitioner views of pregnant drug users PART III Motherhood 9 Hospital confinement 10 Drugs and parenting 11 Relapse: missing the window of opportunity 12 Mothering and drugs: four case studies 13 Child protection: social workers’ views PART IV Service delivery and development 14 Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome 15 The role of drug services for pregnant drug users: the Liverpool approach 16 The drug liaison midwife: developing a model of maternity services for drug-using women from conception to creation 17 Providing care for pregnant women who use drugs: the Glasgow Women’s Reproductive Health Service PART V Implications for policy 18 Overcoming the barriers 19 Dilemmas of child welfare and drug dependence 20 Drugs policy and practice development in the United Kingdom

'Drug Misuse and Motherhood will be an excellent reference for those interested in the improvement of health and psychological outcomes for illicit drug users, their children and families.' -Jan Copeland, Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and Other Drugs