A homicide case involving a Pennsylvania woman fatally exposing her newborn infant to opioids via breast milk is raising broader issues surrounding breastfeeding among mothers with opioid addiction, according to The Inquirer.
Here are five things to know:
1. Police charged the woman, 30-year-old Samantha Whitney Jones, with criminal homicide after an autopsy discovered her 11-week-old son died April 2 from "a lethal combination" of methadone, amphetamine and methamphetamine transferred through beast milk. Ms. Jones told prosecutors she'd been prescribed methadone to aid in overcoming a painkiller addiction, which requires clinic visits several times a week.
2. Amphetamines and methamphetamines are active within breast milk for up to 30 hours after drug use and able to be transferred to the baby while breastfeeding, overstimulating the infant's nervous system.
3. Cases like Ms. Jones' stir up a larger debate of whether women with addiction issues should be given help, as thought by medical groups and women's rights advocates, or disciplined, as thought by many lawmakers and law enforcements officials.
4. Diane Spatz, PhD, RN, director of the lactation program at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said Ms. Jones' case raises the question of whether clinicians missed an opportunity to intervene in her care, according to the report.
"To me, we need to help moms get treatment," Dr. Spatz told The Inquirer. "Where were they in terms of working with her? Where was her follow up? It's really sad."
5. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, along with other healthcare groups, agree women who are on methadone maintenance therapy need to be encouraged to breastfeed.
"There is very low transfer of methadone in breast milk," Dr. Spatz told The Inquirer. "And there are true benefits to breastfeeding. Their babies have less withdrawal symptoms, and they're easier to soothe."
More articles on opioids:
How a West Virginia nurse is using harm reduction to fight opioid use
Georgia's opioid overdose rate grows faster than national average
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