An environmental scan of impacts and interventions for women with methamphetamine use in pregnancy and their children.

Abstract

BackgroundIndigenous women are overrepresented among people who use (PWU) methamphetamine (MA) due to colonialism and intergenerational trauma. Prenatal methamphetamine exposure (PME) is increasing as the number of PWUMA of childbearing age grows. Yet impacts of MA in pregnancy and effective interventions are not yet well understood.ObjectiveWe conducted an environmental scan of published and grey literature (2010–2020) to determine effects of MA use in pregnancy for mothers and their offspring, effective interventions and implications for Indigenous women.Search strategyA strategic search of Ovid Medline, Embase, ProQuest—Public Health and CINAHL databases identified academic literature, while Google and ProQuest—Public Health identified grey literature.Selection criteriaArticle selection was based on titles, abstracts and keywords. The time frame captured recent MA composition and excluded literature impacted by coronavirus disease 2019.Data collection and analysisData extracted from 80 articles identified 463 results related to 210 outcomes, and seven interventions. Analysis focused on six categories: maternal, neonatal/infant, cognitive, behavioral, neurological, and interventions.Main resultsMaternal outcomes were more congruent than child outcomes. The most prevalent outcomes were general neonatal/infant outcomes.ConclusionA lack of Indigenous‐specific research on PME and interventions highlights a need for future research that incorporates relevant historical and sociocultural contexts.