Substance Abuse Help - Pregnant Women & Infants Program (PWIP)

The LESC Pregnant Women and Infants Program (PWIP) is a one-of-a-kind 6 to 12-month therapeutic community experience providing both medical and clinical treatment for pregnant women who are opiate dependent. The women in our program often have unstable family situations, have received limited health care, may be at risk of losing custody of their babies, and have not done well in previous substance abuse treatment programs. PWIP is a therapeutic community where mothers and staff members ban together to create a nurturing, caring and recovery focused atmosphere in a non-intimidating and understanding manner.

The PWIP program is unique in that it addresses a wide-range of essential needs of our soon-to-be-mothers, including: consistent pre-natal care, parenting skills training, and methadone treatment stabilization (the best-practice standard for opioid dependent pregnant women). Once our clients deliver, they return to PWIP to create a new life for themselves and their new healthy babies.

Entering treatment at PWIP, residents no longer have to worry about a place to live, food, clothing, medical care, job training or safety and can focus on their new community of peers, the health of their newborn, and their own recovery program. As our clients progress through their residential methadone treatment program prior to delivering, they take advantage of our wide array of treatment services, such as:

Comprehensive pre-natal, postpartum and pediatric care provided in partnership with Bellevue Hospital
HIV/AIDS testing and counseling
Pharmacological training
Psychiatric evaluation and assessment
Parenting classes
Homemaker training
Domestic violence education
Job readiness preparation

Once the baby is born, both mother and infant return to the PWIP program at Su Casa. Mothers, along with and under the careful supervision of our 24-hour childcare professionals, care for their babies. Mothers also return to their treatment program readying to get back to their families, homes, jobs and communities.

At this point in the treatment process, our professional counselors and staff assist mothers and babies to grow together and bond; free of the fears, trials and tribulations they would have faced in the outside world. PWIP also provides baby supplies (clothes, toys, diapers, etc.), nutritional meals and snacks, and outings and events. We also make sure mothers have everything they need upon completion, including: strollers, infant wear, cribs, etc.

We know our program most always succeeds and provides the community an invaluable service, because we see babies born, learn to walk and wave bye-bye; healthy, happy, content and, best of all, with it’s mother’s love and care.

For admissions, call 212-566-7590 or 212-566-2046 or email us at jnicholson@lesc.org or smangual@lesc.org.
For admissions criteria, click here.