Sök artiklar i SveMed+

Tidskrift

Sammanfattning

AIM – The aim of this article is to present a first overview of pregnant substance abusers in compulsory care in Sweden. The current legislation does not allow for compulsory care on the grounds of pregnancy, i.e. out of consideration for the foetus. Nonetheless, a number of the women placed in compulsory care every year also “happen to be” pregnant. DATA – Through client screening interviews, which include a question about whether the client is pregnant, and data from the client administrative system of the National Board of Institutional Care, a total of 81 unique pregnancies (79 unique women) were identified between 2001 and 2008. The average age at admission was 28 years and the women for whom such data was available were on average 5.9 months pregnant. RESULTS – Compared to other clients in compulsory care the situation of the pregnant clients was relatively favourable in some domains, such as living conditions, and physical and psychological status. Their drug profile mostly resembled that of the youngest client group in compulsory care, i.e. dominated by heroine and amphetamine. There were, however, relatively speaking fewer pregnant women who never have injected drugs and it was more common among the pregnant clients to have lost custody of a child or to have a child placed in foster care. CONCLUSIONS – More empirical studies are necessary in order to increase our knowledge about this selected group of clients, both follow-ups on the women and their children as well as in-depth studies of how these women are “processed” in the social and legal systems.

MeSH