How to Become Certified
1. Review the application (PDF)
2. Ensure your hospital can meet the eight criteria listed in the application
Note: Your responses are saved if you need to exit out of the application before it's submitted. However, we highly recommend completing the application in one sitting.
If you have questions or need guidance, contact us via email.
Eight Criteria and Resources to Meet These Criteria
These criteria guidelines, established by a consortium of experts, address maternal behavioral health care and treatment needs of Washington state. These resources may also be helpful if you are not a birthing hospital but want to support people with a substance use disorder who give birth.
In addition to the resources below, we strongly suggest you register for the Washington State Hospital Association’s (WSHA) Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Learning Collaborative and utilize the free resources found in the online toolkit.
Criterion 1: Verbally screen every person giving birth for substance use disorder with a validated screening tool.
Screening Tools
- 4P’s
- 4Ps Plus
- 5P’s
- ASSIST (Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test, Version 5)
- AUDIT-C (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test – Consumption
- AUDIT-C Plus 2
- CRAFFT (Car, Relax, Alone, Forget, Friends, Trouble)
- DSAT-10
- Integrated 5Ps Screening Tool
- NIDA Quick Screen
- Substance Use Risk Profile Pregnancy Scale
- TAPS (Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription medication, and other Substance use Tool)
- T-ACE (Tolerance, Avoidance, Cut Down, Eye-opener)
- TWEAK (Tolerance, Worried, Eye-openers, Avoidance, K[C] Cut-down
- TICS (Two-Item Conjoint Screening)
- Other Resources
Criterion 2: Verbally screen every person giving birth for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs) with a validated screening tool (Note: This screening should be in addition to any hospital-wide mandatory mental health screenings and be validated for the perinatal population)
Screening Tools
- PHQ-2 (Patient Health Questionnaire 2)
- PHQ-4 (Patient Health Questionnaire 4)
- PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9)
Other Resources
- Perinatal Mental Health Care Guide – UW PAL for Moms
- Patient Safety Plan Template – Suicide Prevention Resource Center
- Assessing Safety in the Perinatal Period – UW PAL for Moms
- Washington State Crisis Lines
Criterion 3: Has a provider on-site or on-call that has the skills and scope to begin maintenance medications that treat opioid use disorder and/or adjust (titrate) maintenance medications that treat opioid use disorder during labor and delivery, and postpartum.
OR
If the hospital does not have an on-site/on-call provider, there is a procedure in place to consult with a provider to initiate or adjust maintenance medications when needed.
- WSHA Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Learning Collaborative Toolkit
- 1-833-937-9362 (YESWECAN): Swedish Perinatal Addiction Provider Consultation Line, available Monday—Friday 8:00 am — 5:00 pm
- 877-72504666 (PAL4MOM): Perinatal Psychiatry Consult Line (PCL) for Providers, available Monday—Friday 9:00 am—5:00 pm
Criterion 4: Allows birth parent and infant to room together, unless the birth parent is in the ICU, or there are medical reasons outside of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome for the infant to be in the NICU.
- WSHA Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Learning Collaborative Toolkit
- Eating, Sleeping, Consoling Instruction Manual
- California Health Care Foundation Webinar, Matthew Grossman Eat/Sleep/Console
- Eat, Sleep, Console Implementation Guide - Washington State Hospital Association
- Eat, Sleep, Console Patient-Centered Video - Spokane Regional Health District
Criterion 5: Have an evidence informed policy for breastfeeding with medications that treat opioid use disorder that is trauma informed and supports choice
Criterion 6: Practice the use of on-pharmacological interventions as the first line of treatment for withdrawal symptoms in the infant
- WSHA Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Learning Collaborative Toolkit
- Eating, Sleeping, Consoling Instruction Manual
- California Health Care Foundation Webinar, Matthew Grossman Eat/Sleep/Console
- Eat, Sleep, Console Implementation Guide, Common Spirit (PDF)
- Eat, Sleep, Console Patient-Centered Video - Spokane Regional Health District
Criterion 7: Have patient education requirements that include communication with parents about what to expect regarding the notification and report process for infants exposed to substances and what may be expected regarding potential interactions with child welfare.
- DCYF: Guidelines for notifying and reporting infants exposed to substance
- National Perinatal Association - Infographics
- Eat, Sleep, Console Patient-Centered Video - Spokane Regional Health District
Criterion 8: Have a system in place to support care coordination at discharge, including a warm handoff* if the patient is scheduled to receive care form a provider they haven’t met with before.
*A warm handoff is a transition that is conducted in person, between two members of the health care team, in front of the patient (and family if present).