Expert: Pat G - 10/17/2009

Question
hi I'm 24 and so is my partner about two months ago i had a medial abortion and it was because i was on methadon and my partner and i decided we wanted to not have a another baby until i was off methadon. i am on 20 mg and coming off mg a week now we are ready to have another baby as in in about two week and i am not on any other drugs and i do smoke but so dose my partner and we have sex about 5 times just in the night sometimes in the morning cause he works so he ejakaltion  everything and i thought i got a period a week after i only bleed for about a week after the abortion and then it stopped for a week and then i got a 4 day bleed so yeah do you think i could be pregnant now we have done a test and it said no

Answer
G'day, amanda,

I did a little research on methadone and pregnancy, and according to what I am reading, it is safe to continue methadone treatment. The opinion seems to be that you might want to have a maintenance dose if tapering causes you to experience withdrawal (because withdrawal could harm your baby). So the recommendation is that you continue on whatever low dose will prevent withdrawal. Also, you should not attempt to detoxify during pregnancy. You can read more here:
http://www.methadoneandpregnancy.com/mandp.htm

I further learned that it is common and considered desirable for a pregnant mother to take methadone rather than continue on any addictive drugs.

From what you said, I am unable to tell when you feel you might have conceived. If you are missing your expected period, some tests will be positive after about a week from the time of expected onset, while others will be positive a week after that. So I usually tell women if they get a negative test, they should wait a week and test again.

It would be a good idea to discontinue smoking during pregnancy and breastfeeding if you can, but taking methadone can complicate that situation, so I recommend you talk to a doctor about that. Both you and your partner's smoking can affect the baby's lung development and later respiratory health. Your partner can take up the practice of smoking outside to reduce the exposure. I have one grandson whose mother smokes. She discontinued during pregnancy but took it up again. Now she smokes outside, away from him. He did have respiratory problems while he was in day care, but when they discontinued the day care, he recovered and now he's fine.

I will tell you about a sort-of personal experience you may find encouraging as well. A woman I work with adopted a baby whose biological mother had been taking a lot of different addictive drugs. He was probably born addicted, because he went through withdrawal. The first few months of his life were pretty rough. He would cry inconsolably. Eventually his adoptive mother learned that if she would take him outside and let him look at the stars, that would calm him. After going through this very rough period, he proved to be normal in every way; no impairment of any kind. He's about in first or second grade now, and he's a happy, very healthy and bright kid, and studies taekwondo, where he does very well. Given this is the case, it is evident that the outcome can be very good for a child with those kinds of strikes against him. Already, your own child, if you are pregnant, is better off by far. So don't worry too much if you are already pregnant. From what I'm reading, it's not a problem. Obviously, everyone is an individual, but it isn't a sentence to unbearable suffering if a child has this kind of background.

One final consideration. It is perfectly normal and common for a pregnant mother to worry about whether her baby is all right. It comes with the territory. So don't worry too much about worrying. :)

So my recommendation is that you consult a doctor if you test positive for pregnancy. If you experience any withdrawal before you have pregnancy confirmed, then you should maintain wherever will keep you from having withdrawal symptoms, until you can see your doctor. Please let me know how you do.