Improving Care of Newborns with Substance Exposure (ICoNS)

The ICoNS project partners with the Vermont Department of Health and the University of Vermont Children's Hospital to improve improve care of newborns with substance exposure.
A mother holding a newborn infant.

About ICoNS

Our educational sessions for healthcare professionals enhance outcomes for pregnant individuals with substance use disorders and their infants. The project also tracks maternal and newborn health metrics to identify care gaps for focused quality improvement.

Healing through Storytelling
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In February 2022, the ICoNS project team hosted a pair of storytelling workshops for individuals with a history of opioid use disorder (OUD) during pregnancy and health care professionals who work with parents or families affected by OUD in Vermont. The approach used during the storytelling workshops was based on the narrative medicine model. A foundational belief of this approach is that in teaching and supporting individuals to accept and understand the power of their own stories, it can provide a pathway for them to assist others in recovery. We can attest that each storyteller participating in our initiative had one unified reason to share their story: helping and supporting others in recovery.

Parents with Lived Experience

All rights reserved. No part of these stories may be reproduced, reused, republished, or transmitted in any form without the express written permission of the Improving Care of Newborns with Substance Exposure project. Contact: vchip.pqcvt@med.uvm.edu

Community Provider Experiences

All rights reserved. No part of these stories may be reproduced, reused, republished, or transmitted in any form without the express written permission of the Improving Care of Newborns with Substance Exposure project. Contact: vchip.pqcvt@med.uvm.edu

If you are interested in sharing your story, please send us an email at vchip.pqcvt@med.uvm.edu. 

Goals

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  • Improve quality of prenatal and postnatal care for pregnant people with substance use disorder and their infants.
  • Improve availability, access, efficiency, and coordination of care services for pregnant people with substance use disorder.
  • Provide support to health care professional who care for opioid-dependent pregnant people and their infants and improve systems for implementation of current guidelines and best practice recommendations for care.

Achievements

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  • Provision of support and guidance for the Vermont Plan of Safe Care (POSC) with the Vermont Department of Health Division of Family and Child Health and the Department for Children and Families.
  • Collaboration for the statewide adoption of DCF CAPTA notifications for substance exposure in utero as outlined in Federal CARA (Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act) including engagement for planning and development of a revised Plan of Safe Care (POSC) and the development of a POSC supportive structure to assist providers in the state.
  • Provided support and guidance for Vermont community hospitals implementing the Eating, Sleeping, Consoling (ESC) care tool for symptom assessment of opioid-exposed newborns.
  • Regional collaboration with neighboring states via Northern New England Perinatal Quality Improvement Network (NNEPQIN).

Highlights

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VT IDTA

  • Vermont In-Depth Technical Assistance (PDF) is an interdisciplinary team developing systems of care and support for perinatal people with substance use disorder (SUD), including updating guidelines for the Community Response Team (CHARM) model and supporting the expansion of a perinatal peer support network.

Preparing for Hospital Stay and Preparing for Baby

Resources

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Project Team

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  • Michelle Shepard, MD, PhD, Lead Faculty
  • Molly Rideout, MD, Faculty
  • Adrienne Pahl, MD, Faculty
  • Julie Parent, MPH, MSW, Project Director
  • Angela Zinno, MA, Project Coordinator
  • Courtenay Devlin, MS, Data Manager