An entire maternity ward is celebrating the success of a mother who overcame addiction during pregnancy and delivered a healthy baby, both of whom remain together today.
Joanne Munroe arrived at St. Paul’s Hospital in labour in February, and was able to spend the next three weeks there, accessing support services until she could get into a recovery program that offered housing.
“The staff here was super supportive. They were my cheering team,” Munroe told Global News. “Being in active addiction while I was pregnant, I felt pretty helpless.
“(The Ministry of Children and Family Development) was going to come and swipe my baby away, but they believed in me and we figured out a program together.”
While pregnant, Munroe exhausted multiple housing options and ended up on the streets. There, she continued to use cocaine and methamphetamine to cope with fear of falling asleep — “trying to protect myself, stay awake, keep eyes on my back,” she described.
While postpartum support is widely available, Munroe said there are fewer resources accessible to users who are pregnant. Quitting isn’t always a safe option, she added.
During her pregnancy, the 32-year-old, who originally hails from Abbotsford, said her blood pressure caused all kinds of problems and made it difficult to quit.
“It’s a horrible position to be put in, and that’s my goal one day, is to hopefully be able to help women who are pregnant in active addiction,” she said, “and be like, ‘Look, there is a support for you, there is a place for you, you’re not going to get judged here.”
Thankfully, Alvin suffered no withdrawal symptoms when he was born. He was premature and required support from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), but the maternity ward was able to collaborate with other specialties — reproductive psychiatry, obstetrics, and more — to keep the pair together.
“We don’t want mom and baby to be separated,” explained St. Paul’s Hospital nurse Cat Dare.
“Our rooming-in program allows us to work with the NICU staff and keep baby in the room with mom and provide that extra neonatal care.”
Instead of being separate by child protection services, Munroe was able to stay with Alvin, feed him, learn parenting skills, and get valuable skin-to-skin time while rehabilitating herself.
During the three weeks she stayed in the hospital, she said nurses brought her activities, checked on her regularly, and made sure she had what she needed to cope with withdrawal symptoms.
“They were very caring, they were very empathetic, they definitely made me feel like an individual,” Munroe said. “It became like family, we cried, we laughed.”
Munroe left hospital on March 21 to live in a supportive recovery program for women, including other mothers. She has been sober for about three months, takes regular drug tests, and is accessing other community resources as well.
“We were passionate and dedicated to her being a success story and removing all the noise and all the background interferences,” said Amy Hamill, St. Paul’s patient care manager for pregnancy, birthing and newborns.
“We had our social worker and a complex where they are working hand-in-hand with her by her side. She trusted us. We trusted her.”
Munroe has two other sons she hopes to be reunited with soon. She said she hopes sharing her story inspires other pregnant women who use to seek the help the need.
“It’s just been a really positive story for us and I hope we can encourage other people to come here and be honest with the doctors about what their issues are.”
Information about healthy pregnancies and resources for pregnant people are available on the B.C. government’s website. Anyone in need of addictions support can call 778-945-7619 to speak with an addiction medicine specialist, 24/7.