Supporting Pregnant People in Louisiana

In Louisiana, unintentional overdose is one of the leading causes of pregnancy-associated deaths. 

According to the state’s Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review Committee, 93% of pregnancy-related deaths, 81% of pregnancy-associated deaths, and all substance use disorder-related deaths were deemed preventable. Yet, many pregnant people with opioid use disorder face immense barriers to care: stigma and discrimination from health care providers, lack of access to trained clinicians, and “maternity care deserts,” with no birthing facilities or maternal health providers.

Bloomberg Fellow Shelina Cantrelle Davis and her team at the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) are working to address this crisis through the Supporting Pregnant People with Opioid Use Disorder in Louisiana (SUPPORT LA) initiative. 

SUPPORT LA brought together state and local health departments, healthcare organizations, community-based groups, and people with lived experience to understand how Louisiana could better support this vulnerable population. Through key informant interviews and collaborative convenings, SUPPORT LA mapped the current landscape, identifying systemic barriers, promising interventions, and “bright spots” in care coordination and delivery.

Findings from this work were compiled in the SUPPORT LA: Improving Outcomes for Pregnant People Impacted by Opioid Use Disorder in Louisiana Summary of Key Findings. The report outlined actionable policy and practice recommendations on issues such as screening and assessment, criminalization and child welfare involvement, provider training, and harm reduction strategies. Since its launch, this project has begun shifting how providers, policymakers, and advocates think about maternal overdose prevention in Louisiana.

In May 2025, the LPHI team convened key stakeholders for an in-person summit to validate findings, identify ongoing gaps, and spark collaboration. In July, the team led a webinar featuring Louisiana-based experts. Both events showcased effective models to help pregnant people with opioid use disorder and fostered new partnerships, taking critical steps toward building a stronger statewide response.

SUPPORT LA’s work is ongoing, with findings continuing to support the need for conversations and collaboration with partners such as healthcare systems working to expand service delivery and the Louisiana Department of Health’s newly launched Project M.O.M. (Maternal Opioid Mortality), which aims to reduce maternal opioid mortality by 80% by 2028. By working together to better understand the scope of the issue and identify national best practices for preventing overdose during pregnancy, Louisiana can strengthen its strategies and ensure they are guided by the strongest available evidence.

“As Louisiana, and our country as a whole, works to improve maternal health outcomes, it is important to build in strong prevention programming, healthcare access, and harm reduction strategies, informed by data, into our programming and policies to make sure we are serving the most vulnerable in our community,” Davis notes. “We all have the same dream of a safer, healthier future for all pregnant people, so let’s work together to make that a reality.”