General Stigma Pregnant PatientsIntro
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Created on September 24, 2024
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Stigma in Healthcare
Self-Reported Patient Experiences
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I found out that I was pregnant in the middle of a relapse, and I thought I could not keep the baby. I did not feel motivated to keep the baby. I also felt shame and mortified in trying to get prenatal or drug treatment help—I knew they would judge me. They would also judge me if I lost the pregnancy. There was no way out. The thought of walking into a hospital and saying I am using was terrifying. To tell somebody what you have been doing is scary and the hardest thing to do because you don’t know how they are going to react.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. Your Words Matter. Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/nidamed-medical-health-professionals/health-professions-education/words-matter-language-showing-compassion-care-women-infants-families-communities-impacted-substance-use-disorder.
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I overheard the nurses call my baby the NAS [neonatal abstinence syndrome] baby. They never used her name, and it was a stab in the heart, and I felt so embarassed. It was very demeaning.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. Your Words Matter. Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/nidamed-medical-health-professionals/health-professions-education/words-matter-language-showing-compassion-care-women-infants-families-communities-impacted-substance-use-disorder.
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Martins DC. Experiences of homeless people in the health care delivery system: a descriptive phenomenological study. Public Health Nurs. 2008;25(5):420-430.
I waited near the window for 15–20 minutes before finally somebody even saw me. I was right in front of the line. And a nurse came over and said to me . . . I told her I had been waiting about 20 minutes before anybody even said anything to me, you know I am standing there with my cane trying to hold myself up and I was in a lot of pain,and she said oh, we didn’t know really know what you were here for.
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National Institute on Drug Abuse. Your Words Matter. Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/nidamed-medical-health-professionals/health-professions-education/words-matter-language-showing-compassion-care-women-infants-families-communities-impacted-substance-use-disorder.
I wish that they [health care providers] would know that it’s not bad to breastfeed—that just because we’re on the medicine, it’s not bad for our child to get breast milk, you know. There’s facts. It’s not just your opinion—like, read about it. Be informed about it."
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National Institute on Drug Abuse. Your Words Matter. Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/nidamed-medical-health-professionals/health-professions-education/words-matter-language-showing-compassion-care-women-infants-families-communities-impacted-substance-use-disorder.
Interviewer: And did worrying about being involved with CPS or getting her taken away, did it keep you from doing anything you might otherwise do? Alice: My third child, I had no prenatal care. Interviewer: For what reason? Alice: Because I was taking drugs, well, not drugs-drugs; I was down there smoking on marijuana and drinking liquor. And they told me if they see THC or something like that in my system, then protective services would get involved. So I didn’t go to no care for her, none.
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Rachel Simon, Rachel Snow & Sarah Wakeman (2020) Understanding Why Patients with Substance Use Disorders Leave The Hospital Against Medical Advice: A Qualitative Study, Substance Abuse 41:4, 519-525.
There's some hospitals that won't give you anything that makes you go through it like cold turkey, which is like impossible.
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And I've gone through points where the pain - they couldn't get it at a reasonable level, like a tolerable level. And so I left, because I didn't want to sit there and continue suffering. And then as soon as I left, I went straight into self-medication, trying to self-medicate to make the pain lessen.
Rachel Simon, Rachel Snow & Sarah Wakeman (2020) Understanding Why Patients with Substance Use Disorders Leave The Hospital Against Medical Advice: A Qualitative Study, Substance Abuse 41:4, 519-525.
Patient
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Reflection: How might your feelings about people with substance use disorders affect your interactions with a pregnant person seeking treatment for an active opioid use disorder?