Tulsa, Okla.-based OSU Medicine launched OSU Maternal and Addiction Recovery Care, a program that offers prenatal care, addiction treatment and mental health counseling in one location to pregnant and postpartum patients with substance use disorders.
The program held a ribbon-cutting Oct. 27. It operates within OSU Medicine’s OB-GYN clinic, with funding from the George Kaiser Family Foundation. It brings together OSU specialists in addiction medicine, behavioral health, OB-GYN and pediatrics.
Each patient is paired with a social worker who connects her to housing, transportation and childcare resources. Each patient also works with a doula through pregnancy, delivery and the postpartum months.
“What makes the OSU Maternal and Addiction Recovery Care program truly different is that women can receive comprehensive obstetric care, addiction treatment, mental healthcare and social services in one coordinated visit,” said Erin Brown, DO, chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department at OSU Medicine.
Dr. Brown said these patients often juggle separate providers, locations and appointment times on top of transportation, housing and childcare challenges. Many end up going without care.
From 2018 to 2022, nearly a quarter of pregnancy-associated deaths in Oklahoma involved a substance use disorder, according to OSU. Kelly Dunn, MD, chief of addiction medicine and vice chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at OSU Center for Health Sciences, said every patient who enters the program deserves respect and evidence-based care.
Community partners include Family and Children’s Services and the Oklahoma Birth Equity Initiative. OSU Center for Health Sciences President Johnny Stephens, PharmD, said the program is the first in eastern Oklahoma to bring addiction treatment protocols directly into an OB-GYN clinic.
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