In this web exclusive, Dr. Stephen Patrick, a newborn ICU doctor and researcher on how the opioid crisis affects pregnant women and infants, talks with CBS News’ Erin Moriarty about what happens after a mother tests positive for a substance during pregnancy. Patrick argues that automatically referring mothers to child welfare or law enforcement over a single drug test – even for substances like marijuana, which are legal in much of the country – can create more harm than it prevents: driving women away from prenatal care, disproportionately affecting Black and Native American families, and separating moms from newborns without evidence of harm.
