By: AIF Staff
As the number of Americans dying from drug overdoses increases almost every year, organizations around the country are actively developing solutions to help those families and communities plagued by substance abuse disorders. These organizations know that addiction does not just impact the individual user, but has a ripple effect that can change the trajectory of entire families.
This is particularly true when thinking about substance users who are pregnant and preparing to give birth. Newborns who suffer from Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, which occurs when babies withdraw from substances they were exposed to in the womb, are the most vulnerable of the most vulnerable. They enter the world and, through no fault of their own, immediately face a series of health challenges which can reverberate throughout their entire life.
These newborn babies deserve the best care that the American health care system can provide. Their parents deserve care and treatment so families can stay intact and so children can be raised in an environment free from the scourge of addiction.
Every child should be given the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life and that is why the American Idea Foundation is actively supporting the work of Brigid’s Path in Kettering, Ohio.
Brigid’s Path is the first, in-patient, newborn recovery center in Ohio. Founded in 2014, its mission is to care for newborns who have been exposed to an addictive substance like opioids or other drugs during pregnancy. From almost the moment of birth, Brigid’s Path and its team of trained health care professionals employ the latest therapeutic and medical techniques to help babies be as comfortable and as healthy as possible while they experience withdrawal.
At a critical stage in a newborn’s development, the medical staff of Brigid’s Path shower them with love and attention 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As they care for the newborns, they also care for the parent, working with community partners to provide resources that help moms raise their children in healthy and safe environments. They do this on a one-to-one basis, offering wrap-around services so families can stay together, bond, and develop healthy relationships. As Brigid’s Path cares for the medical needs of newborns, they also help mothers meet goals and develop connections within the community that last long after their baby leaves Brigid’s Path.
To date, Brigid’s Path has helped 214 babies and will care for around 70 babies and families in 2023. Because of Brigid’s Path, in 2022, 90% of the babies treated went home last year with a parent or family member. Without the organization, 77% of those babies would’ve been sent directly to the foster care system.
Brigid’s Path is making a difference every single day by fighting for those babies who cannot fight for themselves. They are giving newborns a chance to grow and thrive and, at the same time, they are giving parents an opportunity to remain in their child’s life.
The support provided from the American Idea Foundation to Brigid’s Path in 2023 will help raise awareness about the organization’s transformative efforts. The American Idea Foundation will help Brigid’s Path tell amazing stories of individual transformation and will work to buttress the evidence and data associated with their program in the hopes of scaling and replicating it in other communities suffering from the scourge of drug abuse.
Addiction is a complex problem, but Brigid’s Path is making a difference one baby at a time and is playing a critical role in helping our most vulnerable have a chance at a healthy and productive life.