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Mary Goepfert, clinician, Sabrina and Lisa Merritt, director of nursing AN OVERLOOKED POPULATIONįor My Baby and Me meets a critical need in addictions treatment, because many recovery programs don’t accept pregnant women, who require complex, specialized care. Austin Health Center, and the Trenton Health Team. The others are the Capital Health System, the Rescue Mission of Trenton, HomeFront, the Henry J. What we want to do is make sure the baby is born healthy and mom is in recovery.”Ĭatholic Charities is one of six partners on the holistic healthcare project. “We’re meeting the patient where she is and wrapping whatever treatment is needed around her. “As we see the opioid epidemic exploding, we’re starting to recognize that this is a subset of that population that’s gotten lost because of the lack of infrastructure for coordination between maternal health and addiction medicine,” said Susan Loughery, director of operations for Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton. Women who enroll in For My Baby and Me receive medical care through all stages of pregnancy, birth and postpartum medication-assisted addiction treatment peer recovery and relapse prevention counseling and support housing assistance transportation employment services and child care for dependents. When she learned, at 23 weeks, that she was pregnant, she decided to confront her addiction “hell” and reached out to a new community collaborative, called For My Baby and Me, for pregnant women who are addicted and homeless, or at risk for becoming homeless. (Sabrina is a pseudonym to protect her identity, as she’s in recovery.) She knew how bad I was, and funerals are expensive,” said Sabrina, who has battled drug addiction for many years. “My mom was thinking about getting life insurance on me because she thought I was gonna die. For a chronic drug user, there are so many wakeup calls. It’s hard for Sabrina to pinpoint exactly when she knew her life had to change. For My Baby and Me: A Winning Collaborative