Clinical Audit Reference no: P02/23
Project initiation date: March 2007
Scheduled completion date: November 2009
Expected publication date: February 2010
About this project
Drug use is associated with increased maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity, and increased mortality and morbidity in families.
The project aims:
- To assess health, educational and social outcomes of children 0 -6/7 years of age of drug using mothers using routine data
- To establish ongoing audit of the study cohort and explore the feasibility of establishing routine audit of children of drug using mothers nationally
Project objectives
- To identify a cohort of drug using mothers with 6/7 year old children in two separate NHS Board areas of
Scotland with high prevalence of drug use and specialised maternity services for drug using women - To trace and contact these mothers and obtain informed consent to access routine data on their children’s outcomes
- To compare immunisation rates/health surveillance rates, education attainment, social circumstances and child protection concerns of children of drug using mothers with the rest of the population
- To use these data to monitor the impact of drug use on children and to consider service responses
- To set up systems for ongoing monitoring of the study cohort of children
- To ascertain the acceptability to parents of routine continuous audit of outcomes of children of drug using mothers
- To make recommendations about a national surveillance system for children of drug using mothers
Project team members and contributors
- Grant holder: Dr Mary Hepburn, Senior lecturer in women’s reproductive health/Honorary consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, University of Glasgow/North
Glasgow University Hospitals Division - Mr John O’Neill, Project Manager
For more information
Beatrice Cant, Senior Programme Manager, Health Services Research & Effectiveness, NHS QIS
Mary Hepburn (as above)
