New study identifies a more effective way to care for newborns exposed to opioids

Findings from the Eating, Sleeping and Consoling for Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal (ESC-NOW) study show a new care approach that is more effective than usual care approaches for opioid-exposed infants. 

Eat, Sleep, Console promotes parental engagement and gives special attention to non-medication care methods like breastfeeding, swaddling, and skin-to-skin contact. The usual treatment for NOWS focuses on a nurse measuring the infant's withdrawal symptoms before providing medication treatment, such as methadone or morphine.

Researchers found that the ESC approach decreased the time until infants were medically ready for discharge. Newborns cared for with ESC were medically ready for discharge approximately 6.7 days earlier and were 63% less likely to receive drug therapy, compared to newborns cared for under the usual approach using traditional scoring methods. Safety outcomes at three months of age were similar between both groups. The study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The nationwide clinical trial is a collaborative effort between NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the NIH Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. The trial is funded by the Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®—a trans-agency effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid crisis. (Addiction Policy Forum, USA, 08.05.2023)

https://www.addictionpolicy.org/post/new-study-identifies-a-more-effective-way-to-care-for-newborns-exposed-to-opioids