Creative arts therapies for babies born of the addicted : neonatal abstinence syndrome, movement and music

Abstract

This senior honors thesis explores the available research literature and guidelines regarding Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). NAS is a collection of withdrawal symptoms exhibited by newborns due to in utero exposure to maternal drug use. The focus of this literature review is newborns with NAS due to prenatal exposure to opioids. For these newborns, Finnegan scores are used to assess severity of symptoms and are often used to determine the type and amount of non-pharmacological or pharmacological treatment. The ultimate aim of nonpharmacological interventions for newborns with NAS is to prevent the need for pharmacological treatment. Because there are minimal documented studies regarding outcomes of non-pharmacological interventions using movement and music, further studies on this topic are recommended. This literature review details manifestations of NAS in pre-term and full-term infants, overviews non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions, and identifies gaps in the literature.