This article presented the results of a collaborative study by the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, and the National Drug Treatment Centre in Dublin. The aim of the research was to examine the prevalence of illicit drug abuse and alcohol abuse in an obstetric population in an urban maternity hospital. The study consisted of the anonymous, unlinked urine testing of 504 first-visit antenatal patients, and the testing of a separate group of 515 patients six weeks after delivery.

The researchers found the prevalence of chemical substance abuse in the antenatal sample was 2.8%; among the postnatal population the prevalence of drug abuse, excluding alcohol, was 6%. These substances were found to include benzodiazepines, cannabis, amphetamines, opiates, and cocaine, with less than 2% of the samples testing positive for alcohol. The authors found that substance abusers in pregnancy were more likely to be single, unemployed, and to have had a previous pregnancy.