As overdose crisis rages on, wait lists grow in recovery programs for women with children

Amidmounting evidence thatkeepingmoms and newborns together duringaddiction recovery is beneficial to both,the overdose crisis is highlighting a lack offacilities to accommodate them,says a leading expert in addiction at the time of birth.

"[Thecrisis] has impacted many families and many women. Certainly, it's affected the women of reproductive age across the province," saidDr.Charissa Patricelli."And keeping moms and babies together is really vital and important"

There is a waiting list to access services, explained Patricelli,medical director of FIR Square Combined Care Unitat B.C. Women's Hospital in Vancouver. It was thefirst facilityin Canadato care for women who use substancesin the same ward as their newborns.

MalloryFewster had her first daughter Lillywhile living in foster care at 16 years old.As she battled addiction, she turned to prostitution to make ends meet and Lilly wasremoved from hercare at two years old.

"That took every bit of hope I had left in me, that took every bit of pride that I had in myself, that took every belief that I was worth anything, out of me. And that's partly why I went down the road," said Fewster, whobecame a survivor of sex trafficking.

Now at 28,she's been sober for two and a halfyears. Fewster believes her stay at theEllendale Residential Treatment centre in News Westminster while pregnant with her second daughter Mareika was integral to her recovery and ultimately allowed her to continue to care for her child.

"I think with me finding a safe place that I could bewho I was, where I was at my life. That's what made the difference between me getting sober or staying in that pain," explained Fewster.

Had she been able to receive the samestigma-free support for motherswith Lilly, she believes she would havebeen in recovery sooner and may still have her in her care.

"There's not enough help. Iknow people personally who are right now trying to get into detox and they're not going to make it to detox because there's not enough beds," she said.

Tamara Straitonis a mother in recoveryand aprogram manager atSereenas House for Women in Vancouver. Shebelievesthe stigma of substance abuse has created barriers to supports.

"I felt like I couldn't be honest if I relapsed because, you know, out of fear that they would take my child away," said Straiton who has not used drugsin five years.

Her son Kado was temporarilyremoved from her care during a relapse years ago.

"How am I supposed to be clean without him? There's just like this hole, you know, just this emptiness and loneliness," she said.

Patricellidescribes a long list of benefits to keeping mother and child together during treatment.

"We see improved outcomes for the baby, such as decreasedneed for admission, decreased length of stay in the hospital after they've been born, decreased need for pharmacological management to manage their withdrawal symptoms," she said.

"I think one of the biggest challenges for the health-care system in general is for us to let go of judgment and the stigma around it and treat it as really a health-care issue," she added.

Theteam atB.C. Women's Hospital has established guidelines of therooming-inmodel in hopes ofencouragingother hospitals to implement the practice.

There are currently 3,083 publicly funded substance use treatment beds throughout B.C., the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions said in a statement. Among them, 56 beds are for women and their children.

"We know that gaps remain in the system and we're working quickly to improve access to treatment and recovery services to ensure that no one slips through the cracks," saidthe statement.

Research out of the University of British Columbiafound a direct link between women who havea child removed from their custody and the increased likelihood those motherswill experience an unintentional overdose especially if they are Indigenous.

Among almost 700 mothers studied, losing custody of a childwas directly associated with a 55 per cent increasein the oddsof an unintended non-fatal overdose, said co-author and UBC clinical assistant nursing professorMeaghan Thumath.