Maternal Opioid Use Disorder and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Among Rural US Residents. In a study published this week in the Journal of Rural Health, researchers from the HRSA/FORHP-supported University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center found that diagnosis of maternal opioid use disorder (OUD) and neonatal abstinence syndrome are steadily increasing among rural residents. Despite the fact that hospital discharge data from the all‐payer National Inpatient Sample shows that rural women with OUD and other clinical complications were more likely to give birth in urban teaching hospitals findings from the Minnesota study show that more than 60 percent of rural moms with opioid use disorder give birth locally. “Rural hospitals may have more limited capacity to care for them and their babies,” said Center Director Katy Kozhimannil.
