A retrospective, observational study on medication for opioid use disorder during pregnancy and risk for neonatal abstinence syndrome.

Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), such as buprenorphine and methadone, are effective in reducing the significant harms associated with untreated opioid use disorder (OUD) in nonpregnant and pregnant adults. While previous research clearly documents that the risks of MOUD in pregnancy are less than the risks of untreated OUD in pregnancy, researchers have called for additional studies evaluating the safety of MOUD during pregnancy, particularly the relative safety of methadone and buprenorphine. In a clinical sample of infants born to women with OUD, we showed that buprenorphine-exposed infants were at significantly reduced risk for neonatal abstinence syndrome compared with methadone-exposed infants. Our study adds to the growing body of evidence supporting the use of buprenorphine over methadone for the treatment of OUD among pregnant women.