Overdose Deaths in Pregnant and Postpartum Women Nearly Tripled Between 2018 and 2021

A new study by researchers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has revealed that overdose deaths among pregnant and postpartum women in the United States saw a sharp increase between 2018 and 2021. According to the Nov. 22 study, published in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Psychiatry, the most significant increase in deaths was among the 35 to 44 age brackets. The study noted roughly 4.9 deaths per 100,000 mothers in the 2018 period, which increased to 15.8 deaths by 2021, representing a threefold increase. Overall, drug overdose deaths spiked significantly between January to June 2018. They also spiked between July to December 2021 among females aged 10 to 44 who were pregnant or had been in the previous 12 months. According to the study, for those aged 10 to 44 who died between 43 days and one year after pregnancy, overdose mortality ratios almost doubled from 3.1 in the 2018 period to 6.1 in the 2021 period....