Partnership to End Addiction

Perinatal substance use—substance use during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum—poses serious risks, including pre-term birth, stillbirth, maternal mortality, and neonatal drug withdrawal. In New York State, data show that perinatal substance use accounts for one in four pregnancy-associated deaths; of these, 13% occurred during pregnancy and 87% occurred within one year after pregnancy. More than 90% of these deaths occurred outside of New York City. Over the past decade, treatment models for perinatal substance use have shifted toward support rather than punishment. However, substance use during pregnancy remains heavily stigmatized, deterring many women—especially women of color—from seeking in-person treatment out of fear of child separation. As a result, more than 80% of women in New York with perinatal substance use disorders do not receive appropriate care. Text messaging interventions, coupled with connections to treatment, offer a promising approach. In 2024, NYHealth awarded Partnership to End Addiction (PTEA) a grant to develop and test a text messaging intervention for pregnant and postpartum New Yorkers struggling with substance use. 

Under this grant, PTEA will reach 500 people in Dutchess, Delaware, Orange, and Sullivan counties, where PTEA has existing partnerships and where there are high rates of perinatal substance use. PTEA will conduct focus groups to inform its text message development and convene an expert panel to review the messages for consistency with evidence-based brief interventions and bias mitigation. It will provide enrolled participants with individually tailored text messages that include pregnancy information, substance use resources, and referrals to social services based on users’ preferences for frequency, substance use (alcohol, marijuana, or opioids), stage of pregnancy or postpartum, and stage of treatment. PTEA will evaluate the project’s outcomes and develop and explore opportunities for statewide scaling and sustainability.