Nurses' Priorities for Improving Pregnancy and Birth Care for Individuals with Opioid use Disorder.

INTRODUCTION: The motivation to seek treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) can increase during the perinatal period. However, several identified barriers, such as poor access to services, lack of trained providers, stigma, and legal ramifications of OUD, limit the ability for individuals with OUD to receive safe and supportive care during pregnancy and birth. During the birth hospital stay in particular, nurses provide the majority of care for pregnant and birthing families. We aimed to engage nurses, with experience caring for pregnant and postpartum individuals with OUD, in priority setting as a way to identify areas of need in the current health care systems. METHODS: Using community-engaged priority setting methods, we recruited a sample of 47 nurses (phase 1) and 20 nurses (phase 2), including nurse-midwives and other advanced practice nurses, at a statewide nursing conference, who reported regularly providing care for pregnant and postpartum individuals with OUD. We invited participants to submit questions and concerns regarding the provision of care for individuals with OUD (phase 1). A selection of those who submitted questions attended a focus group to rank and prioritize submitted questions into a set of priorities for research, policy, and care improvement (phase 2). RESULTS: In phase 1, participants submitted a total of 165 questions and concerns. In phase 2, participants prioritized the following: funding to support improvements in OUD care in the perinatal period, increased access to services, supportive housing for individuals in recovery, standardization of care for individuals with OUD, and efforts to destigmatize care. DISCUSSION: Nurses who work with pregnant and postpartum individuals with OUD have a unique insight as to how health care providers, including midwives, can better support this community and should be engaged setting priorities for research, changes to policy, and improvement in care.

Community-led Priority Setting for Opioid Use Disorder in Pregnancy and Parenting.

OBJECTIVES: To engage community members with opioid use disorder (OUD) and case managers working with pregnant and parenting individuals with OUD in a priority setting process to identify the key priorities for research, policy, and care improvement during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. METHODS: We conducted focus groups across Washington State with pregnant and parenting people with OUD and with case managers working with this community as part of research priority setting using the validated Research Prioritization by Affected Communities protocol. Priorities for research, policy, and service improvement were developed during each focus group by the participants. RESULTS: Three focus groups with pregnant and parenting people with OUD and 2 focus groups with case managers were conducted (total N = 24 and 16, respectively). Both prioritized topics such as stigma and bias, housing, access to treatment, and steps toward successful recovery. The community and case manager groups shared similar, complementary strategies for each priority, with differences reflecting their perspectives in relation to OUD. CONCLUSIONS: Community-engaged priority setting among those with OUD was an effective and meaningful way to guide future research, policy, and care improvement efforts.