A STUDY OF DRUG ABUSING AFRICAN-AMERICAN PREGNANT-WOMEN

Many studies have focused on pregnant women who have used crack cocain e and other drugs during pregnancy, but few studies have conducted int erviews with the women either curing pregnancy or after delivery while undergoing residential care and the recovery process to determine wha t they feel their program needs are in an effort to ensure successful treatment. This exploratory study war; undertaken specifically to cons ider not only drug-use patterns and sexual risk behaviors, but primari ly to consider what characteristics the women felt would make drug tre atment intervention strategies more effective for them and their famil ies, including the significant other in their lives. Interviews were c onducted at three residential treatment facilities for women as well a s at home, after program discharge. Eighty-three women participated in this project, which was both quantitative and qualitative. There is d iscussion of the nurturing program that should be considered for use w ith this population.