Universal Postpartum Naloxone Project

The Universal Postpartum Naloxone Project brings together hospital staff and providers and community-based organizations with experience in overdose recovery resources to provide all postpartum people with a take-home first aid kit that contains naloxone. The project began in January 2021 as a pilot project at Franklin Memorial Hospital and the Franklin County Healthy Community Coalition with a goal to increase naloxone saturation in the community, which can reduce the risk of overdose deaths. The project consists of:

1. Educating hospital staff and providers on implicit bias, harm reduction, and overdose prevention;
2. Offering naloxone as part of a home first aid kit to all postpartum persons; and
3. Improving coordination of community recovery resources with hospital-based services through linkage of these services. The pilot project was successful in having more than 75% of postpartum people take home the naloxone and has now been expanded to two additional hospitals that are linked to their local community-based organizations

Article: Tackling the Opioid Overdose Crisis: Post-Partum Patients Equipped with Naloxone First Aid Kits

Article: Mid Coast Hospital Offering Overdose-reversing Med to New Mothers