By Ashley Lyles, MedPage Today, November 19, 2019
Patient: I'd gotten pregnant again and I was using through my whole pregnancy, and I didn't receive prenatal care. He was born and he's fine and everything. The [Department of Social Services] let me bring him home. Then a week after I had him, I relapsed really, really bad. Then, I got really messed up and they took my kid.
Reporter: The opioid epidemic has taken a toll in rural areas, especially on pregnant women. Doctors and healthcare providers in rural North Carolina are on the front lines, trying to improve outcomes for mothers and babies.
Amy Marietta, MD, MPH: We have certainly seen the effects of the opioid epidemic in rural western North Carolina. I think one of the populations that is starting to get a little bit more attention that we are starting to more appropriately treat for opioid use disorder are pregnant and postpartum women.
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