Hushabye Nursery provides compassionate, evidence-based care for babies experiencing withdrawal and supports parents impacted by substance use disorder with a calm, judgment-free place to heal, grow, and stay connected. Hushabye Nursery is necessary due to the emerging crisis of substance-abused infants. A baby can go through drug withdrawal after birth. From 2008-2013 there were a total of 1,472
cases of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome in Arizona. There was a significant increase (235%) in NAS rates from 2008 to 2014. There are a limited number of beds for critically ill infants, and because the drug-exposed infant can require four to eight weeks of care, our NICU's are burdened with the task of caring for these infants. The NICU was designed for intensive care, not therapeutic care. The solution is simple, keep the critically ill infants in the NICU where they belong, and refer drug exposed infants to a recovery center for NAS, such as Hushabye Nursery. Hushabye Nursery will provide these infants with a quiet, loving, therapeutic environment while they wean from the drugs to which they have become physically dependent. The staff will have special training from the national leaders in NAS treatment. In addition, families will get the support they need for the road to recovery that will include support after discharge for the transition to home.