Drugs, Alcohol, Pregnancy, and the Vulnerable Family with Dr. Ira Chasnoff

This program will examine the psychosocial factors that place pregnant and parenting women at risk for substance use as well as the impact of perinatal substance use on maternal/infant attachment.  From the child’s perspective, sessions will address the structural and functional changes that occur in the developing fetal brain induced by prenatal substance exposure, will demonstrate how these changes ultimately impact learning and behavior in the children, and will present an evidence-based system of prevention and intervention that has the potential to benefit families and children in western Iowa affected by substance use in pregnancy and associated early trauma.