Subtitle: Combating Stereotypes and Stigma
Author: Sheigla Murphy and Marsha Rosenbaum
Subject: Sociology/Public Health/Women's Studies/Social Work
Paperback ISBN 0-8135-2603-5
Pages: 192 pp.
Description: The first book to look at the lives of pregnant drug users from a qualitative, sociological perspective.

While extensive and sophisticated knowledge about the effects of drugs on the fetus have been widely reported, there has been a paucity of information about the mother herself. Through interviews with 120 pregnant, or recently delivered, drug-using women Sheigla Murphy and Marsha Rosenbaum fill this gap with an examination of how pregnant addicts make choices about drug use, pregnancy, and pre-natal care. To combat the stereotype of the negligent, uncaring, and even abusive pregnant drug user, the authors seek to understand the feelings and motivations of the women themselves. How do they decide whether or not to terminate their pregnancy? What are their parents' and family members' attitudes toward their pregnancy? What options are available to them if they choose to keep the baby but kick the habit?

Murphy and Rosenbaum present the demographics of their study population and a description of their lives: their childhoods, drug use patterns, relationships, and experiences of violence. They delineate women's efforts to manage their pregnancies and reduce the potential harms of drug use during pregnancy. The authors detail what they call the "final showdown" of birth and delivery when months of ambivalence, fear, and harm reduction efforts culminate in the glaring light of an institutional setting. Finally, they address the policy implications of their findings.

Sheigla Murphy is a medical sociologist at the National Institute on Drug Abuse and co-author of Cocaine Changes: The Experience of Using and Quitting.

Marsha Rosenbaum is a medical sociologist and director of the Lindesmith Center, West in San Francisco.