[Opiate dependent pregnant patients and mothers. What must be regarded in drug substitution and detoxification]

Substitution treatment with methadone, is a major addition to the therapeutic options available to opiate-dependent patients. In the case of opiate-dependent pregnant women and mothers with children, however, it brings other problems with it. Thus, for example, cases of methadone poisoning of children have become known. In part these are accidental, but some are a result of deliberate attempts on the part of mothers to quieten their children. The present report from an outpatient addiction service describes specific possibilities for treatment, and offers of organized help for this group of patients.