Two recent reports inspired me to write about the topic of women getting treatment for substance use disorder (SUD).

The first was a recent National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) study on the significantly increased rate of drug overdoses among pregnant and postpartum women since 2017. The findings suggest that although there are SUD treatment services available to these women, barriers including penalization, stigma, and discrimination are stopping them from getting help.

The second appeared recently in Genetics in Medicine Open. The study describes a syndrome that may be occurring in babies who are exposed to fentanyl in the womb. At least 10 babies have so far been identified with the syndrome. All have distinctive physical defects, including cleft palates and unusually small heads.

These two studies point to the same thing: Women must do whatever they........

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