UNC conference to provide tools for care providers working with mothers who are substance-abusers

March 26, 2004

Brief

UNC conference to provide tools for care providers working with mothers who are substance-abusers

A Wednesday (March 31) conference at UNC’s William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education will explore issues related to illegal drug use among pregnant women and mothers.

The purpose of the one-day regional conference, “Working with Substance Using Pregnant Women and Mothers: the Whys and the Hows,” is to help care providers prepare to identify and work with substance-using pregnant women and mothers.

The conference is sponsored by UNC Horizons, a program of the UNC School of Medicine’s department of obstetrics and gynecology that is supported by federal and state funds, UNC Hospitals and the Orange County Partnership for Young Children.

The registration fee for the conference, including lunch and materials, is $35.

UNC Horizons specializes in recovery for pregnant women, mothers and their children. The program is marking its 10th anniversary with the conference.

“This conference is an opportunity for Horizons to share its 10 years of experience working with this vulnerable, often maligned and often invisible population,” Dr. John Thorp, medical director of UNC Horizons and a professor in UNC’s School of Medicine.

“Our hope is that participants will leave with the knowledge and the tools to identify and engage substance-using women in discussion about their use and its impact on themselves and their children,” Thorp said. “Also, we want to let the community know of the good resources that are available for families.”

For more information and a full schedule of the day’s events, click on http://www.uncobgyn.com/ or call Debbie Stanford at (919) 966-9803.

News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu