Across Colorado, fewer pregnant women and new moms are dying from accidental overdoses. The number of maternal overdose deaths dropped from 20 in the year 2020 to 8 deaths just three years later. That's a 60% reduction in the most recent years for which data is available.
Why that's happening isn’t totally clear. But a doctor who specializes in addiction treatment during pregnancy has a theory that involves Naloxone. That’s an over-the-counter medication that can stop or reverse the symptoms of an overdose by people who use opioids, including heroin or some painkillers.
Naloxone has become more widely distributed in recent years, but it's not without controversy. Proponents say it saves lives, while some feel it enables or perpetuates drug abuse.
Dr. Kaylin Klie, an associate professor of family medicine at CU Anschutz Medical Campus, thinks Naloxone may be behind the decline in maternal overdoses. She wrote about that in a recent piece for The Conversation. She spoke with Erin O’Toole about her hypothesis – and what it says about how we address addiction.
