Pregnant substance-abusing women in involuntary treatment: Attachment experiences with the unborn child

Abstract

Background

Use of coercion against pregnant women who misuse substances was legalised in Norway in 1996. The background for the law was that substance abuse during pregnancy represents a significant health problem for the child.

Aim

The main aim of this study was to explore if an attachment between the mother and her unborn child was possible in a context of coercion as experienced from the woman's perspective. The women had many challenges, such as lack of social support and poor living conditions.

Material

Data were collected in eight qualitative in-depth interviews.

Findings

The main findings show how involuntary detention enabled safety for and connection with the unborn child. Within this context, the pregnant substance-abusing women's own relational experiences and developmental histories represent the most significant barrier for their ability to bond with the expected child.

Conclusions

The study underlines the importance of helping women with their own attachment experiences in order to break the generational transference of risk and pathology, and in this way, start the attachment process to the unborn child during the coerced treatment stay. Implications of the findings are discussed.