The development of a virtual cohort of children born to opioid dependent mothers in Scotland

In Scotland, c.500 children a year are born to women who use opioid drugs. Evidence exists that these children experience poorer physical and mental health, however research on this group is limited due to the chaotic nature of their lives, making it near impossible to follow them up beyond birth. This project will follow a group of children who were born to opioid dependent mothers, using routinely collected data from health records, to explore what happens to them in the first two years. This will lead to a bigger proposal which will explore longer-term health, social and educational outcomes.