Pregnant women addicted to opioid drugs, prescription narcotics, methamphetamine, heroin, or marijuana believe they can detox without professional assistance. It is common for many pregnant women to have substance abuse disorders and to need help making positive choices for their own health. It is important for you to clean your system and your unborn child’s as soon as possible if you are pregnant and addicted. No matter how hopeless you may think you are, it is achievable if you are ready to begin your rehabilitation journey today.

Is detoxing while pregnant safe? In this post, you will find the different types of detox programs, the risk factors involved, and how to detox safely.

The Quickest Way to Clean Out Your System While Pregnant

Some specialized programs cater to helping pregnant women detox to get rid of toxins and stop taking addictive substances. But some expectant mothers are hesitant to detox while pregnant because detoxification is a big deal and could harm their unborn child. It’s not as simple as it sounds.

Over the years, thousands of women have asked us, ‘How can an expectant mother safely detox drugs from her system?’ The answer is simple. It’s the easiest, most comfortable method to detox while pregnant. You must not detox without medical supervision.

Detoxify toxins from your body over a few days through an outpatient or residential program. Medical detox can be performed in either setting. Medical detox finishes with a 24-hour expert medical team monitoring, as well as an inpatient detox program for both the mother and her unborn baby since they may have seizures during benzodiazepine and alcohol withdrawals.

How to Clear Out the System of An Unborn Child While Pregnant?

You may safely remove drugs from your body during pregnancy, but it is not advisable. There are medical facilities that help women detox. They encourage expectant mothers to use their services to detox and maintain their baby’s health.

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) can result from persistent alcohol or drug abuse during pregnancy. This can also cause spontaneous miscarriage, a variety of congenital malformations, premature delivery, reduced growth in the baby’s brain, and babies born addicted to opioids.

The Best Way to Detox from Opiates While Pregnant

It is important for a pregnant woman to seek medical help to detox from alcohol or drugs to protect her safety and that of her unborn child. Depending on whether a substance has been used, how much it has been abused, or the mother’s health and psychiatric history, detox methods vary.

Due to the danger of miscarriage during detox, many women who are addicted to alcohol should seek treatment in an inpatient facility. Those who are addicted to sedatives and opioids, in addition to seeking inpatient care, should also seek medical care around the clock.

While methadone is used to manage opioid addiction, it is part of the substitute medication regimen during detox. Mothers and their infants can benefit from prenatal care and comprehensive care. As a result, methadone-exposed infants may still require treatment for withdrawal symptoms. 

Usually, benzodiazepines are prescribed medications during alcohol detoxification, but these should be used with care, as benzodiazepine withdrawal might cause oral clefts or floppy-infant syndrome in the fetus.

Why You Shouldn’t Detox on Your Own When Pregnant?

Many pregnant women who are addicted to drugs believe they can detox on their own without professional help. They think they can just slowly wean themselves off the substance, buy at-home detox kits, and drink lots of water to flush the substance from their system. It is a terrible idea for three key reasons.

You would have been able to quit drugs on your own by now if this was possible. 

Individuals who are newly abstinent can be overwhelmed by drug cravings. This is particularly true when you’re pregnant and the hormones are raging. Long-term, continuous sobriety is not likely for individuals who are addicted and pregnant. That is why substance use disorder treatment is so important for addicted pregnant women.

It’s Risky to Detoxify Drugs While Pregnant

Withdrawing from drugs suddenly may cause miscarriage, low birth weight, birth defects, or developmental delays in the child later on in life, and an increased risk of high blood pressure. 

Your safety, in addition, is also at risk. Detoxification may likewise be risky. Certain drugs (in particular opioids) may cause seizures, severe health problems, and even death if they are withdrawn suddenly.

Detoxification Process During Pregnancy

The rehabilitation process starts with detoxification. It’ll take a lot of effort to achieve sobriety after the drugs are out of your system. It will be even more challenging once you have to deal with the everyday hassles of raising a child. 

You should have the tools you need to maintain your sobriety to have the greatest chance at long-term success. This is what occurs in rehab.

Risks Of Drug Detox Kits and Drinks

Detox kits and drinks have no scientific evidence of their efficacy.  Because they are unregulated, these kits’ effectiveness is unknown. There is little scientific or medical research to support the claims made by drug detox kit manufacturers. 

There are many varieties of detox kits available for purchase that claim to help flush a specific drug out of your system. These include beverages or pills. Among the most popular detox kits are those intended to defeat THC drug tests. Some take several days to provide results, while other, more costly ones, promise faster results.

Although they are legal, they are of poor quality. “Detox” is not one of the things that these kits indicate. Drug tests are not intended to help you rapidly eliminate all the drug’s physically addictive properties as some medical procedures do.

What is the Safest and the Fastest Way to Detox During Pregnancy?

Despite the fact that detoxing while pregnant is frequently considered to be a dangerous practice, caring for her unborn baby’s health is the farthest thing from a pregnant woman’s mind. In reality, addiction alters the brain’s function, making it nearly impossible for some people to stop using drugs. Taking care of a dependent opioid addiction is difficult, and if a pregnant woman wants to quit, she must ask for professional help. It’s, therefore, critical to start the process with an opioid detox program. It is important to work with professionals to end active addiction, not just attempt to do it on your own. Trying to detox alone is usually ineffective. Pregnant women often need to begin by detoxing. Even if you are not pregnant, detoxing is something that should be supervised by professionals. If you are pregnant, you and your unborn baby’s health and safety must be safeguarded, and that recommendation is even stronger.

Medical Detox Program for Pregnant Women Suffering from Substance Abuse?

You should be under medical supervision when undergoing MAT in a treatment center if you are pregnant and want to detox from opioids safely. Medical professionals should oversee the detox process when completing MAT. Withdrawal side effects and drug cravings will be alleviated through constant 24-hour supervision and medication in an inpatient treatment center. Methadone and buprenorphine are two medicines frequently used in MAT. These drugs help prevent neonatal abstinence syndrome symptoms in newborns and prevent drug addiction in mothers by reducing opiate abuse. MAT may be used safely and effectively to help addicts withdraw from drugs such as opiates and others.

What is a Medical Detox 

Addiction requires a comprehensive treatment program beyond detoxification. Following detox, individuals should be referred to a specialized treatment program. The most suitable level of care for pregnant women is generally considered to be a residential program in which someone is closely monitored and provided care and supervision around the clock, seven days a week. After detox, women may also be provided with assistance after the baby is born, including housing and daycare facilities.

Detox Programs Women may benefit from outpatient addiction treatment programs, especially if they have other children or must continue working or attending school. Throughout the day and evening, women attend group sessions and meetings in an outpatient treatment program. Childcare and transportation might be provided. Supportive and strong domestic environmental factors are crucial for outpatient therapy.

A pregnant woman who is seeking treatment for substance use should expect to be in that treatment for at least 90 days, according to NIDA. Public treatment programs, which are funded by either the state or federal government, are open to everyone and are often more difficult to access. Private rehabilitation centers, on the other hand, are able to provide a much wider range of specialized programs, services, and amenities.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Group counseling of pregnant women can be done in the presence of a husband, and cognitive–behavioral methods effectively reduce anxiety, stress, and depression. Getting cognitive behavioral therapy has its own risks because you may sometimes feel emotionally uncomfortable. Going through cognitive behavioral therapy can lead you to explore your emotions and painful memories. This therapy session is beneficial alone or in combination with other treatments, such as eating disorders, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder. But it can help you manage stressful life situations.

Is Methadone Safe?

In pregnancy, methadone is an effective and safe process for opioid addiction. However, NAS or other mental health problems may still occur, but they are less severe than in the absence of treatment. Methadone should not be reduced to prevent NAS, as this may cause greater risk of illegal drug use and increase the risk to the fetus. Your doctor may split methadone doses or use methadone substitution for opioid withdrawal.

Be sure to talk with your physicians before discontinuing your methadone treatment. Withdrawal symptoms might occur if you suddenly discontinue methadone (also known as “cold turkey”). Withdrawal symptoms associated with an opioid drug are most likely to occur if you suddenly discontinue it. More research is required to determine how withdrawing from methadone might affect a pregnancy. You should reduce your methadone slowly, as directed by your healthcare professional.

Possible Side Effects During Withdrawal 

Withdrawal from substances without medical assistance might be dangerous. Seizures, delirium tremens, heart attacks, and strokes can all be fatal if you quit “cold turkey”. Even though alcohol is known as a depressant, the body will adapt to the relaxation effect over time, causing “overdrive” and potentially resulting in any of these symptoms.

Medication may be prescribed to help manage withdrawal symptoms during the early phase of detoxification, but this is not always the case. A medical professional should oversee this phase, particularly if substance abuse or extreme addiction is involved, or these symptoms could become hazardous. 

Detox Food Swaps During Pregnancy

Even if you eat a generally wholesome diet, you still have to make a few changes while pregnant. You must consume more nutrients to help your body detoxify and maintain your changing physique and growing baby, and you must avoid certain foods altogether. You don’t have to follow a strict regimen – or abstain – but rather you should pay a bit more attention to your food choices.

Choose organic fruit and vegetables whenever possible. Limit high-salt foods. Choosing grass-fed and hormone-free meat and poultry is the key to healthy eating. Look for labels that say minimally processed or organic.

Should You Refuse a Drug Test During Pregnancy?

It is illegal for hospital workers to search pregnant women for signs of illegal drug use without first obtaining the patient’s consent or a court order, according to a ruling by the United States Supreme Court.

Healthcare professionals undermine their ethical duties if they act on behalf of the government, which may result in poor disclosure by patients, and reduce the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment. Physicians should put the health of patients first. They should maintain drug testing policies that encourage open communication and an emphasis on treatment options if a pregnant woman tests positive for drugs. Women and children should be protected from having their health destroyed by drugs.

Final Thoughts

Under normal circumstances, being a mother is challenging. Substance abuse during pregnancy is not only harmful to the pregnant woman, but it can also harm her unborn child. There is a wide range of substances that a person may abuse. The most common drugs include marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, heroin, and prescription painkillers. In addition, there are many types of prescription drugs that have the potential to cause addiction.

Your number one goal as a mother is to find the fastest way to clean out your system while pregnant so that the drugs don’t enter the unborn baby’s system. This can be done through the use of medical detox, which is the most effective and safest way to detox drugs. Medical detox programs typically involve the use of withdrawal management after you have already established your treatment program. This is accomplished by creating a safe environment for you to withdraw from the substance, which is beneficial for both you and your unborn child.