HOPE Clinic

The HOPE Clinic (Harnessing support for Opioid and substance use disorders in Pregnancy and Early childhood) provides coordinated care for pregnant and parenting people with substance use disorder and their families. Our goal is to maximize our patients’ ability to successfully navigate pregnancy, early parenting and substance use recovery. We welcome pregnant people, their partners, and their infants at any time during their pregnancy or in the year following the birth of their child. We continue to support families through the postpartum period and through the first two years following the birth of their child.

Complete Care During and After Pregnancy

The HOPE Clinic is a collaborative program of the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Psychiatry and Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Mass General for Children. Our goal is to give patients and their families extra support through this special period in their lives. We know that each person's path is different, so we tailor our medical and social services to meet each individual where they are in their substance use and recovery.

Patients are seen at our outpatient clinic at Mass General. The HOPE Clinic includes clinicians from a variety of fields who work together to care for patients. Our team includes clinicians trained in:

• Obstetrics
• Addiction
• Family medicine
• Pediatrics
• Psychiatry during pregnancy and postpartum (after birth)
• Social work
• Peer recovery
• Resource specialist

Our Services

At the HOPE Clinic, we work with each patient to create a care plan that meets them where they are at in their substance use and recovery. The clinic provides complete care for people of reproductive capability and their families during this exciting and challenging time. Through these services, we help pregnant people and new parents maximize their ability to navigate pregnancy, early parenting and substance use recovery with success.

View our Welcome Packet

During Pregnancy

The HOPE Clinic provides complete care for pregnant people, including:

• Prenatal care with high risk obstetrics and family medicine
• Addiction specialists
• Mental health care
• Counseling and peer support
• Social services
• Primary care linkage

We offer medication treatment for substance use disorders (such as buprenorphine or naltrexone). We also work with local methadone clinics.

When a patient is admitted at Mass General for labor, our team coordinates their substance use treatment during childbirth. We work with the inpatient obstetrics team to support our patients through childbirth and their hospital stay at Mass General.

After Delivery

After delivery, we welcome patients and their newborns back to the HOPE Clinic. We continue to provide care for the family for the next two years.

During this period we provide services for mother (whether or not they are parenting) and baby as well help partner access supports.

For infants, we offer:

• Monitoring of ongoing neonatal withdrawal symptoms
• Pediatric primary care, affiliated with the Mass General for Children Pediatric Group Practice
• Breastfeeding support
• Referral to early intervention services
• Access to other clinical specialists, including: 
  • Infectious disease specialists
  • Developmental specialists
  • Eye specialists

Our services for postpartum people after delivery include:

• Addiction Medicine, including medication management of substance use disorders
• Psychiatry, including medication management of mental health disorders
• Behavioral health therapy and counseling
• Linkage to primary care
• Family planning and contraception
• Parenting education
• Peer support
• Care Coordination
• Access to outside resources to help address housing and financial stressors

When children reach two years old, we help connect families to providers in their community who can continue care for the whole family.

Portfolio of Recovery

We also work with patients during their time with us at the HOPE Clinic to create a “portfolio of recovery.” The goal of the portfolio of recovery is to highlight the recovery work done by the birthing parent during pregnancy. It outlines the patient’s treatment goals and identifies the patient’s strengths, support system and plan for the safety of them and their family. The portfolio can then be presented with the help of the inpatient social work team to social services agencies, including the Department of Children and Families (DCF). This portfolio serves as a ‘Plan of Safe Care’ which is required for all infants affected by substance use or withdrawal. 

See our Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about how we work with patients to support and advocate for them during DCF proceedings.

View our Recovery Portfolio

Services for Partners and Other Children

The HOPE Clinic is committed to providing access to care not just for our patients and their babies, but also for the rest of the family.

We provide linkage to the following services:

• Addiction services
• Psychiatry and behavioral health
• Parenting education
• Social support
• Access to other clinical specialists, including:
  • Primary care providers
  • Infectious disease specialists

Coordinated Care from a Team of Specialists

We understand that each person's recovery journey is different. We work with each patient to tailor a care plan that meets them where they are in their substance use and recovery. The HOPE Clinic team is made up of specialists with experience treating substance use disorder. It includes physicians (obstetricians, pediatricians, psychiatrists and family practice specialists), social workers, nurses, recovery coaches and clinical care coordinators.

Clinical Team

• Sarah Bernstein, MD, Director of Obstetrics, Maternal Fetal Medicine
• Diana Punko, MD, Psychiatrist
• Deviney Chaponis, MD, Family Medicine & Addiction Medicine
• Jessica Gray, MD, Family Medicine & Addiction Medicine, Medical Director
• Edwin Raffi, MD, Psychiatrist, Director of Behavioral Health
• Davida Schiff, MD, Pediatrics
• Michelle McDonald, Practice Manager
• Melissa Maitland, LCSW, Social Work
• Angela Owens, Peer Support Specialist
• Marlisa Larkin, RN, Nurse
• Jessica Spinali, RN, Nurse
• Prajwal Acharya, Medical Assistant  
• Jentina Mitchell, PMHNP-BC, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner 
• Sophia Volcy, Resource Specialist 
• Priscilla Gutierrez, Patient Services Coordinator