Obstetrics and Gynecology > Clinical Services > Obstetrics

Center for Addiction and Pregnancy

The Center for Addiction and Pregnancy (CAP) is a unique, innovative program designed to help mothers and infants deal with the physical, emotional and social problems caused by addiction. Offering both outpatient and residential settings, CAP provides a comprehensive, coordinated and multidisciplinary approach to one of our greatest problems today: drug-dependent mothers and their affected babies. The program is committed to:

Reducing the number and severity of obstetric complications, including HIV infection;
Delivering healthier infants to mothers who no longer abuse drugs or alcohol;
Providing effective family planning services that are acceptable to the patient; and,
Ensuring initial and long-term pediatric assessments and care to the neonate and other children of program patients.

Through providing comprehensive health care and complementary services in one convenient location, CAP breaks down the barriers that often keep this high-risk population of women and children from receiving the care they need. CAP is housed entirely in one wing of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and includes a broad spectrum of care in an effort to address all issues germane to this group of women. Health care services include:

Substance Abuse Treatment
Psychiatric Evaluation and Care
Obstetric Evaluation and Care
Childcare Program
Pediatric Health Care
Residential Service
Family Planning

Substance Abuse Treatment

Our caring clinical staff specializes in women's issues and substance abuse treatment and offers individual and group therapy on a daily basis. Case management, referrals and coordination with community resources are also provided. Psycho-educational groups are held daily on a variety of topics, including intensive relapse prevention, trauma and addiction, HIV education, drug education, parenting and stress management. In addition, CAP offers couples counseling and family education. When indicated, methadone maintenance is used as an adjunct to treatment.

Psychiatric Evaluation and Care

We offer psychiatric assessment and on-going care for dually diagnosed women enrolled in the program. CAP fosters collaboration in patient care, teaching and research, and best practices for this special population.

Obstetric Evaluation and Care

Obstetric evaluations and examinations are performed by mid-level practitioners and an obstetrician specializing in the care of substance-abusing women. The labor and delivery suite is on the same campus as the treatment facility and is in close proximity to a state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for newborns requiring intensive medical treatment after birth.

Childcare Program

All children ages five and under are eligible to participate in the childcare program. The program is open Monday through Friday. All staff members are trained in early childhood education.

Pediatric Health Care

Comprehensive pediatric care and immunizations are provided to our patients' children from birth to age 21. All children in CAP receive frequent developmental testing during their first three years, including developmental screenings every three months.

A parenting coordinator offers group and individual parenting sessions, and a case manager provides comprehensive case management and follow-up for each mother-infant pair.

Residential Service

A 16-bed residential unit at the CAP site is fully staffed 24 hours a day, seven days per week by nurses, patient aides and mental-health staff. Patients may be referred to this unit for more intensive obstetric or psychiatric observation.

In addition, patients and their infants can be readmitted to the unit following delivery for individual and group support and further parenting education before they return home.

Family Planning

The program provides education and contraception to patients who wish to delay future pregnancies.