First lady Melania Trump visited Philadelphia-based Thomas Jefferson Hospital Oct. 17 to speak at the National Convening on Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome hosted by HHS.
HHS created the conference to help launch a new initiatives to measure the long-term health outcomes and needs of infants suffering from NAS. HHS Secretary Alex Azar also attended the convening, along with leaders from Thomas Jefferson Hospital's Maternal Addiction, Treatment, Education and Research program. MATER has offered treatment programs designed to support mothers and infants since the 1970s.
After her speech, Ms. Trump toured the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit to learn how clinicians care for newborns suffering from opioid and drug withdrawal. She met mothers and babies born with NAS and spoke with NICU nursing staff.
"Thank you to the dedicated staff at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for all they are doing to help families affected by NAS," Ms. Trump said in a press release. "I enjoyed speaking with the mothers and staff of the MATER program. Programs like MATER are vital in helping mothers and babies have the best opportunities and care in order to overcome NAS. I … look forward to learning more about HHS's plans to develop and implement their new tracking system."
More articles on opioids:
663 North Carolina physicians no longer prescribe opioids, survey finds
48% of hospitals see patients with drug-seeking behavior daily, survey finds
Pennsylvania hospitals treat record 37K patients for opioid use disorder in 2017