Washington State Department of Health, Division of Prevention and Community Health, Office of Healthy Communities – 2013
Information for health care providers on maternal drug screening, laboratory testing, and reporting of drug exposed newborns. Provides an overview of the issue and discusses such topics as screening vs. testing, indicators for testing, and developing hospital policy. Lists both newborn and maternal risk indicators. Discusses consent issues for testing. Explains the different types of newborn drug testing methods and describes what to do if a newborn tests positive, including making a report to CPS. Appendices include guidelines on obtaining parental consent for newborn drug testing, sample scenarios for working with resistant parents, sample parent letter, a neonatal abstinence scoring system worksheet, and text of Washington’s prenatal substance abuse policy, outlining the logistics of making a CPS report.