MORE Announcements
Please join Central Healthy Start Coalition, Healthy Start of North Central Florida Coalition, and FPQC in recognizing January as Maternal Substance Use Awareness Month! We have a variety of resources available to you at the MORE site and toolbox, and continue to add more. Please share these resources widely!


  • These drug-related deaths increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Our MORE 4-Part Video Series of quick snippets co-created by our partners at Halifax Health and Healthy Start of Flagler/Volusia Counties covers:
  • Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)
  • Mothers & Babies to Services: Plans of Safe Care (POSC)
  • Getting Real: Taking the First Steps Toward Recovery
  • From Judgment to Healing: The Impact of Stigma 

  • Our MORE Folders are a one-stop shop for MORE teams who identify pregnant people who screen positive for substance use. We piloted the folder in Fall 2020, and feedback was excellent. The entire contents of the folder can be downloaded here.

  • It is crucial to employ a trauma-informed lens as we identify pregnant women with SUD. Annie Lewis-O'Connor, RN, MPH, PhD (Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women's Hospital) spoke on "Advancing Health Equity and Social Justice: Using a Trauma-Informed Lens" at our October 2020 Mid-Project Meeting. View her slides here. One of the most actionable elements of her presentation was her example of how to create trauma-informed plans of care. The recording can be viewed here. FPQC is currently developing materials for our MORE teams that will highlight actionable trauma-informed care strategies.

  • Florida BH Impact: This warmline is an invaluable resource for Florida OB providers to obtain advice from physicians with expertise in treating pregnant women with co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders. The program expands screening for: depression, anxiety, and substance use; and access to needed services for prenatal, pregnant, and postpartum women. Call 1-833-951-0296 for a consult, and visit FLBHimpact.org
Register Today! Learn to Treat OUD: A Blended 4-Hour Live, Virtual & 4-Hour Online Course
FPQC is partnering with ASAM, ACOG District XII, and ACNM to provide education on opioid use disorder specialized for women’s health care providers. The live, virtual component will be held 2/13/2021, from 8am-12:30pm ET. This course serves as the required education needed to obtain the waiver to prescribe buprenorphine in an office-based setting. Learn more here and register today!
FPQC Reaching Out to MORE Leads

Nurse Consultants Betsy Wood and Margie Boyer will be reaching out to MORE team leads in January and early February for brief touch bases to discuss progress and next steps. The goal is to help team leads with MORE, ensuring hospitals have all the latest resources for success! We are here for you! Our next MORE hospital coaching call will be held in February. Information will be disseminated via e-mail to our MORE hospital team members only. Community organizations looking to connect with their local MORE Teams should reach out to Carol or Lori.
MORE Connections
Best Practices: Linking Hospitals to Community Resources
In this new feature, we spotlight innovative and creative strategies for supporting the work of MORE hospitals in linking mothers with OUD to community resources. Local Healthy Start Coalitions are reaching out to MORE hospitals to assist with mapping services and facilitating post-discharge referrals to services as part of the initiative. Here’s a great example of this partnership!
Addressing the needs of mothers, babies and families impacted by substance use is a long-time priority of the Healthy Start Coalition of Pinellas, Inc. The group is leveraging its strong relationships with Morton Plant and other community partners to ensure families have access to information and needed services after delivery.

The first step in this effort was sharing information about the MORE mapping project, and the specialized services offered by the coalition to substance-affected families. Coalition staffer Bobbi Stephens, RN, who leads a special Healthy Start nurse team working with women experiencing OUD, worked with Ellie Ferro, Morton Plant lead social worker, and Sarah Colton, hospital nurse educator, to organize a brief training for all Labor and Delivery – Mother Baby unit staff. To make it easy to attend, the live virtual training was offered five different times. It also included a short quiz, developed by the hospital nurse educator, highlighting key information.

The training – “Essential First Contact with Families” - focused on the key role played by hospital staff in supporting families struggling with OUD and related issues. It provided information on resources included in the new MORE folders, including the Plan of Safe Care and mapping tool. It also highlighted specialized home visiting and family support programs for these families offered by Healthy Start of Pinellas. These include Parents as Teachers Plus (PAT+), an evidence-based home visiting program tailored to meet the needs of families affected by substance use, and a new CAPTA-supported Healthy Start nurse team.

Feedback was very positive with nearly 130 staff participating in the training! Coalition and Morton Plant staff are brainstorming additional training topics, as well as fine-tuning plans for posting the mapping tool and community resources on the coalition website patients can access using a QR code.
MORE Events
FPQC 2021 will be two half-day sessions:

Thursday April 15: Maternal Health-focused presentations
Friday April 16: Infant Health-focused presentations

Mark your calendars!
More information and registration coming soon.
Webinar: The Science, Practices and Myths of Opioid Use Disorder for Pregnant Women, Tuesday, January 26, 2021, 9-11 AM ET

This training with Dr. Jason Hunt addresses the science, practices, and myths of opioid use disorder (OUD) for pregnant women. As an OBGYN with a specialty in addiction medication, Dr. Hunt provides an engaging, compassionate view into understanding and treating this specialty population. Learn more and register here.
Virtual Workshops: Supporting Substance Exposed Newborn Communities Friday, April 9, 16, 23, 30, from 11 AM to 1 PM ET

Opioid and substance use in Florida is a serious problem. The Hernando & Pasco SEN Taskforces invite you to the 2nd Annual Education & Beyond: Supporting Substance Exposed Newborn Communities, held as a series of virtual workshops. The event is designed for medical, healthcare, and hospital professionals, social and behavioral health workers, nonprofits, treatment providers, law enforcement officers, legal professionals, prevention coalitions and experts, early learning coalitions, state agencies, and all others involved in caring for women of childbearing age, addiction and substance-exposed newborns. Register here.
MORE Resources
MORE Initiative Site & Opioid Initiatives Toolbox

We have a plethora of useful tools and documents for you! Please visit our MORE page and Opioid Initiatives Toolbox to access our initiative resources. Remember: we will continue to add to these pages, so check back frequently! For any questions or suggestions, please e-mail fpqc@usf.edu.
Data Submission Information

Please contact erubio1@usf.edu if your teams have any data-related questions. Please contact fpqc@usf.edu if your hospital paused data collection and are interested in resuming submission,
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