Children they love their mothers and worry about them. Removing a child, especially a younger child, from their mother while she works on her recovery can introduce more trauma, particularly if the child is not old enough to understand why their mother has to go away.
Maintaining a routine with their mother while observing her work to recover can have more substantial positive outcomes for children. Giving women a chance to practice the parenting and coping skills they are learning while they still have a safety net in place builds a foundation for a successful recovery.
At Dahtmaco mothers are assisted in accessing community resources to address their children’s physical, emotional, and educational needs. Pregnant women participate in extensive well-baby services.
When whole families are treated, outcomes for each individual member improve. Simultaneously the communication, coordination, and ability of adult members to support one another and the children increase. Prioritizing the mother-child relationship during treatment lays a strong foundation for a healthy family relationship throughout the journey of recovery.
The services we provide at Dahtmaco are diverse and help reduce barriers to long term recovery. Parenting skills training, health and wellness services, family therapy, case management support to access employment and housing, and referrals for domestic violence intervention are just a few of the unique offerings.
Parental substance abuse interrupts a child’s normal development placing them at higher risk for emotional, physical and mental health problems. These children are also at risk of child abuse and neglect, developmental problems, and adolescent substance use
Researchers found that women who took part in group singing sessions with their babies experienced a much faster improvement in their symptoms than those who did not.
Early recovery is seen to be crucial to limit effects on mother and baby.
Post-natal depression is estimated to affect one in eight new mothers.
Previous studies have indicated singing can help improve the mental health of older people and those with dementia, but this is the first controlled study of its effect on post-natal depression.
“Many mothers have concerns about taking depression medication whilst breast-feeding and uptake of psychological therapies with new mothers is relatively low,”
“So these results are really exciting as they suggest that something as simple as referring mothers to community activities could support their recovery.”
DAHTMACO 