An Investigation into the Benefits of Non-Pharmacological Therapy Options for Patients Experiencing Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Hospitals across the nation have intensive care units dedicated to neonates who are born with a wide variety of issues, with the hope that specialized care will promote healthy growth so the newborn can return home with its family. Unfortunately, the majority of the country is seeing an increase in neonates being born with drugs in their system from their mother’s ingestion during pregnancy. These babies are born with the substances circulating through their own body as a result of the drugs passing from the mother’s system across the placenta into the baby. After the baby is born, they now experiencing withdrawal from the substance since it is no longer being provided to them through the mother. The withdrawal process is similar to adults, although often negatively impacts the baby for both the short and long term future. The traditional method for treating these infants is to administer opioids to stop the withdraw symptoms then slowly wean the baby from medication. Since the incidence of this is increasing, some Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) have implemented programs and protocols for the withdraw that promote healing and comfort without using medications alone. This has not yet become a widely accepted practice due to lack of funding or space. This review of literature will investigate why these specialized programs are needed and in what ways the program benefits these babies