“We are dedicated to family preservation,” says Dana Madden, MA, LCPC, administrative director of the Center for Addiction and Pregnancy (CAP) at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, when speaking about her team’s mission.
Madden works collaboratively with the patient care manager, Buki Babagbemi, MSN, RN; program director, Dr. Denis Antoine, M.D.; and associate medical director, Dr. Alexis Hammond, M.D., to lead a team of nurses, counselors, patient care technicians and residential assistants who deliver a comprehensive program to expectant moms with substance use disorder.
Now celebrating its 30th year of service, CAP provides temporary housing to as many as eight patients at a time (16 before the COVID-19 pandemic) and dozens more through intensive outpatient care, currently held virtually.
The CDC estimates that there were more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the 12-month period coinciding with the first year of the pandemic — an increase of more than 28 percent from the year prior. (source, CDC.gov.) The rate of opioid use disorder among pregnant women more than quadrupled from 1999 to 2014, and Johns Hopkins Bayview saw a COVID-era increase of nearly 30 percent in the number of newborns diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome on our campus — making access to the services offered by CAP more vital than ever.
Madden explains that having a single-site delivery system for the full spectrum of care allows pregnant moms access to Hopkins-trained providers of maternal-fetal medicine, psychiatry and addiction services, high-risk obstetrics and specialized pediatric care all in one location. This coordinated care increases the potential for patients to be successful with their treatment.
“Patients arrive in different stages of readiness to change,” explains Cassie Alleman, LCSW-C, LCADC, manager of treatment services at CAP. “Pregnancy often motivates our patients to take that step into treatment: they want to have a healthy pregnancy.”
“When you’re here, you feel safe asking hard questions,” says one patient, a mom of two older children who is 34 weeks into her current pregnancy. “The nurses and counselors are accessible, devoted and respectful. So are the other patients, who uplift me. Never once did anyone look down on me or judge me here. What got me here was the pregnancy. What keeps me here is the knowledge that my baby will be healthy and know he’s loved.”
The support continues long after the birth of a healthy baby. CAP moms continue with groups and have access to ongoing pediatric care, developmental assessments and immunizations. “Our role is to provide the support, relationships and resources that allow new moms to leave our campus with everything they need to thrive long-term, beyond their time in the program,” says Madden.
Says Alleman, “Over time, we have helped so many moms to recover, avoid relapse and create lives that they can be really proud of. There is no population I would rather work with.”
Recently, Johns Hopkins Bayview was recognized with the Baltimore City Health Department’s highest level of certification for efforts to address and respond to the opioid epidemic: a Level 1 certification in its Levels of Care for Baltimore City Hospitals Responding to the Opioid Epidemic initiative. Another important piece of the puzzle is addressing and reducing the stigma of addiction. Read more about Hopkins’ work on this effort here.
As the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic has lightened, CAP has reopened additional residential spaces for patients in need. Many patients find their way to CAP through former patients, friends or family members. To learn more, please call 410-550-3066 or visit the CAP website here.
We are grateful to this team for pivoting during COVID to provide patient-centered care through many modalities, and for supporting this vulnerable population for three decades and counting!