BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS - EFFECTIVE AND ADAPTABLE FOR THE TREATMENT OF PREGNANT COCAINE-DEPENDENT WOMEN

We examined the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in the treat ment of cocaine-dependent pregnant women. The study war; carried out i n four stages: (I) the unique needs of substance-abusing women were ex amined to identify effective treatment factors, (2) behavioral interve ntions found to be effective in other cocaine-dependent populations we re identified, (3) strategies from these two elements were combined in an ongoing treatment-study of cocaine-dependent pregnant women (the P regnancy Project), and (4) outcome data in a group of 35 women who par ticipated in the Pregnancy Project were examined. The rate of retentio n in treatment was high, as war; compliance with prenatal care for tho se women who remained in treatment A high rate of compliance with pren atal care war associated with good perinatal outcome. There was a rela tively high rate of cocaine abstinence during treatment, at birth, and in the early period following birth of the baby. Many of the patients especially appreciated the individually based self-empowering aspects of the behavioral counseling interventions. We concluded that behavio ral interventions, within a woman-friendly treatment program, are an i mportant treatment option to consider.