What is the problem?
The use of opioids during pregnancy has increased dramatically in the past decade, however, little is known about how to engage pregnant people using opioids in research, how genes play a role in opioid response and the long-term impact on children and families.
On November 23, 2023, we hosted a multidisciplinary presentation focused on best-practices and community perspectives in substance use and pregnancy. Organized by Danielle Hart as part of her Masters project.
Our ongoing research
The Clinical Pharmacology Lab has three ongoing studies looking at opioid exposures during pregnancy. These studies use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to better understand the impact of opioid exposures during pregnancy.
Long-term health outcomes
A study funded by a Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba Operating Grant is investigating the long-term health outcomes for mothers and children exposed to opioids during pregnancy using administrative health data from the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy.
Neurodevelopmental outcomes
The team will evaluate educational outcomes and the development of neurodevelopmental disorders following opioid exposures in pregnancy thanks to support from Excellence in Neurodevelopment and Rehabilitation Research in Child Health (ENRRICH) award.
Community Engagement
To ensure research is meaningful to the people using opioids during pregnancy, community engagement work including a focus group and project steering committee informed by people with lived experience with opioids during pregnancy are ongoing.
Our previously published work
Previously published that Dr. Kelly has led and collaborated on include the development of a core outcome set for studies on neonatal opioid withdrawal, an evaluation of at-home oral morphine weaning, and a forensic investigation into methadone levels in breast milk.
When infants are exposed to opioids during pregnancy, they can develop neonatal opioid withdrawal (or neonatal abstinence syndrome) at birth. It is important that studies measure and report on outcomes that will change practice.
What outcomes are important to report when studying neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome? We proposed a systematic review, parent interviews, a Delphi and consensus meeting to find out!
See our full study protocol
Our literature review reported that many different outcomes were reported in research studies on neonatal opioid withdrawal hindering effective meta-analysis.
We identified 13 core outcomes which can be found along with a video abstract summarizing our findings