Maternal mandatory drug screening

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Specializes in nicu management.

Does any have any hospital protocols/policies they would be willing to share with me?

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Be aware, it is against federal law to drug test a pregnant woman without her consent, if the result of the test is reported to CPS or any other legal/governmental authority. (Ferguson v. City of Charleston).

With that in mind, we do not do MANDATORY drug testing on moms. If we have reason to suspect she may be using illicit drugs, we will ask for consent to collect a UDS. If she does not consent, then we don't.

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Specializes in RNC-MNN & Operating Room.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that. We drug test all mothers who have had any new std's during pregnancy, moms with limited or no prenatal care and precipitous deliveries, without consent! We also test mecs on those babies, without consent. And... We will report!

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
17 hours ago, hazel30 said:

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that. We drug test all mothers who have had any new std's during pregnancy, moms with limited or no prenatal care and precipitous deliveries, without consent! We also test mecs on those babies, without consent. And... We will report!

You're disagreeing with me that it's against the law? But...it is against the law. So you can disagree all you want, but that doesn't make it NOT against the law. Just because your facility does it without obtaining consent does not mean that they're not breaking the law. Because they are. I am an OB director. It is part of my job to be well-versed in legal issues surrounding OB care. I assure you, what I say is correct.

It is not against the law to collect a drug screen on an infant without parental permission.

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On 3/1/2019 at 12:43 AM, hazel30 said:

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that. We drug test all mothers who have had any new std's during pregnancy, moms with limited or no prenatal care and precipitous deliveries, without consent! We also test mecs on those babies, without consent. And... We will report!

Not an expert on this specific matter; I had to read about it last night after reading of your facility's practices.

Seems like your place is open to quite a bit of legal challenge and possible ramifications!

How do you feel about this as a nurse? That is, the ethics of it?

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.
On 2/28/2019 at 10:43 PM, hazel30 said:

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that. We drug test all mothers who have had any new std's during pregnancy, moms with limited or no prenatal care and precipitous deliveries, without consent! We also test mecs on those babies, without consent. And... We will report!

I would look up your policy again if I were you...we have a similar policy but it explicitly states WITH CONSENT.

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