Midwest Perinatal Substance Use
Workforce Development Project
Providing evidence-based strategies to healthcare professionals who care for pregnant people who use drugs
Our Work
Recent research suggests that perinatal substance use disorders, including opioid use disorder, is a leading contributor to maternal mortality. Approximately 20% of perinatal death can be attributed to overdose, suicide, and homicide. Women who live in poverty, women of color, LGBTQ people, and rural women are the most likely to suffer poor outcomes related to perinatal substance use disorders. Unfortunately, most perinatal healthcare providers receive no opioid use disorder (OUD) or other perinatal substance use disorder (PSUD) educational content in their formal training programs. The Minnesota Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Workforce Development Project is working to provide innovative educational activities for Registered Nurses (RN), Advanced Practice RNs (APRN), and Physicians working in perinatal healthcare to increase their knowledge of evidence-based recommendations and reduce the impact of perinatal opioid and other substance use disorders on the maternal-infant dyad.
Click on the images to learn more!
The Well: A Podcast about Pregnancy and Addiction
The Well is a narrative podcast about the intersection of pregnancy, postpartum, and addiction. We talk to individuals with lived experiences, healthcare professionals, and talk through PSUD from multiple perspectives. Our first episode is scheduled to drop in May 2023.
Monthly Educational Webinars
The MN Perinatal Addiction Webinar Series is a partnership between The MN Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Workforce Development Project and the Minnesota Perinatal Quality Collaborative (MNPQC) to enhance the knowledge and comfort of perinatal prescribers in caring for people with perinatal substance use disorders.
Boot Camps
We will be offering team-based boot camp training for teams who care for pregnant people who use drugs. The 8-hour boot camp will cover the basics of managing care, including special considerations for the perinatal period, and will provide tailored content for different team members, including RNs, clinicians, and administrators.
e-Learning Modules
Finding time to get training can be difficult for busy health care providers. We are creating a set of short e-learning modules that can be completed in as little as 15 minutes to help keep providers up to date on the latest evidence-based practices for caring for people with SUD.
Resource Library
Need resources? Have resources to share? We are working on building a library of useful resources for health care professionals who work with pregnant or postpartum patients who use drugs.
Midwest SUPper Club
The Midwest SUPper Club was established in 2020, with the goal of creating a collaborative, interdisciplinary space for Midwest health care professionals who work with pregnant people who use drugs.
Questions?
Contact thom2166@umn.edu to get more information on the project