September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery month. For birth activists, this is more important than you may think. First, we
need to have an idea of how to identify and help pregnant women who are struggling with alcohol and drug addiction. The US Department of
Health and Human Services has put out information to help identify the specific needs of women for substance abuse treatment. Secondly, we need to understand how important natural birth is to women recovering from addiction. The pain medications used in birth (narcotics specifically) can throw a woman back into the throes of addiction if she is not given proper support. Therefore, the more we encourage recovering women to choose
to birth without drugs, the more likely we are to aid in their recovery. Further, women who are recovering from addiction may feel that they have difficulty accomplishing tasks and have guilt over past life choices. Helping these women birth their babies naturally provides them a sense of personal accomplishment and pride for what they can do for their babies.