Bar chart showing that of 22 state prison systems surveyed, 18 offer MOUD to pregnant women, of those, 11 discontinue treatment after pregnancy and only 4 will initiate it at all. Of 6 jails surveyed, two-thirds offer MOUD, but 3 discontinue it postpartum and only 2 will initiate treatment.

Data Source: Table 2, Sufrin et al., Opioid use disorder incidence and treatment among incarcerated pregnant women in the United States: results from a national surveillance study, Addiction 2020. (Graph: Wendy Sawyer, 2021)

This graph originally appeared in Unsupportive environments and limited policies: Pregnancy, postpartum, and birth during incarceration.

While most state prison systems and jails surveyed offer medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) to pregnant women in some capacity, few will initiate this treatment, reserving it for only those women whose treatment started before admission. And of the 18 prison systems and 4 jails surveyed that offer MOUD to pregnant women at all, most (11 prison systems and 3 jails) stop or taper off treatment post-pregnancy, risking the health of postpartum women with opioid use disorder (OUD).

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