When babies are born to opioid-addicted mothers, they often develop Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). NAS is characterized by symptoms associated with abrupt opioid withdrawal (“Neonatal Abstinence”, 2015). By preventing NAS in babies before they are born and properly caring for a baby with NAS after birth, we will aim to decrease the incidence of this condition and as its harmful effects in the lives of babies. In Ohio, there are many neonates suffering from NAS. The rates for babies born with NAS have quadrupled since 2011 when 2.2 out of every 1000 babies had NAS to 2015, where 12.3 out of 1000 babies suffer from NAS (“Number”, nd). NAS not only affects the baby immediately after birth, but also throughout the course of their lives. Babies with NAS are more likely to experience things like chronic stress, inconsistent caregiving, out-of-home placements, and long-term health issues. (“Long-Term Outcomes”, nd). To counter the problem of NAS, we would like to propose a two-part solution. This solution consists of medical care that first focuses on preventing NAS, and secondly treating its effects. Two treatments that show great promise in the prevention of NAS include the use of Ondansetron while the baby is in utero (“Ondansetron Pharmacokinetics”, 2014), and vaccination against opioids (“Novel pharmacotherapeutic”, 2012). The second part of the solution is used if these preventative treatments are not possible. In this case, the goal of treatment becomes to mitigate the effects of NAS. In this situation, promising interventions include stabilizing the baby in the NICU and admitting the baby to a facility specializing in NAS. In order to solve the ongoing health effects of NAS, we have two recommendations. The first is that specialized facilities enroll parents in counseling and parenting classes, reducing the chance that the child will experience out of home placement (“Assessment of”, 2014). Secondly, we propose that specialized facilities expand their scope of care to treat babies with NAS until age 18 with the goal of decreasing the incidence of common NAS-related health issues by providing more consistency in healthcare
