International Overdose Awareness Day: Moms and Families Deserve Support Without Shame
August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day.
This year marks 25 years of communities remembering the people lost to overdose, supporting the families who love them, and pushing for action that can save lives.
The 2026 theme, “25 Years On. Still Needed.”, is also a reminder that overdose prevention is still needed in our homes, healthcare systems, and communities.
For moms and families, this conversation matters.
Substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD) can affect people during pregnancy, after having a baby, and throughout parenthood. And behind every statistic is a real person - a mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend, neighbor, or loved one.
Motherhood Does Not Make Someone Immune to Substance Use
Moms are expected to handle a lot.
Pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum recovery, caring for a baby, lack of sleep, physical pain, mental health changes, financial stress, and everyday responsibilities can all pile up quickly.
For someone living with SUD or OUD, those challenges do not disappear because she became a mother.
What can make things harder is stigma.
Fear of being judged, labeled a “bad mom,” or treated differently can make it harder for mothers to talk openly about substance use or seek care. Families may also struggle to know what to say or where to turn.
A mother experiencing substance use disorder is still worthy of care. She deserves to be treated as a whole person, not reduced to a diagnosis or the substances she uses.
Overdose Can Be Prevented
One of the most important messages of International Overdose Awareness Day is simple: overdose deaths can be prevented.
That starts with knowing what an overdose can look like.
Signs of a possible opioid overdose may include:
Very slow, shallow, or stopped breathing
Choking, snoring, or gurgling sounds
Pale, blue, or gray skin, lips, or fingernails
A limp body
Being unable to wake up or respond
If you think someone may be experiencing an opioid overdose, call 911 and give naloxone (Narcan) immediately if it is available.
Naloxone is a medication that can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose. Having it nearby and knowing how to use it can give someone another chance to live.
You do not have to be a healthcare professional to carry naloxone.
Parents can carry it. Grandparents can carry it. Partners, friends, caregivers, and community members can carry it.
Knowing how to respond to an overdose is a practical way families can care for one another.
Families Feel the Impact, Too
Overdose does not affect one person.
Families may experience fear, stress, confusion, anger, or grief. Some are supporting someone through recovery. Others are grieving someone they lost. Some may be trying to understand substance use for the first time.
International Overdose Awareness Day creates space to remember those lives without stigma.
A person who died from an overdose was more than the way they died.
They were loved. They had relationships, memories, dreams, personalities, and people who still say their name.
Families deserve room to grieve without judgment.
Support Before a Crisis Matters
Moms should not have to reach a breaking point before receiving support.
That message is especially important during pregnancy and postpartum, when so much attention can shift to the baby while a mother's physical and emotional needs receive less attention. MB&B's messaging centers that reality by asking communities and providers to pay attention to the mother, too.
Conversations about maternal health should make room for substance use, mental health, recovery, pain, stress, and the many things mothers may be navigating behind closed doors.
Asking someone how they are really doing matters.
Listening without immediately judging them matters.
Knowing where to find care matters.
Keeping naloxone nearby matters.
25 Years On. Still Needed.
Twenty-five years into International Overdose Awareness Day, the need for education, compassion, harm reduction, treatment, and community action remains.
Mother, Baby, & Beyond is committed to making maternal health conversations more honest and complete - including conversations about opioid use disorder and substance use disorder.
Through support from the Grassroots Messaging and Awareness Campaign through the Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH), MB&B is raising awareness about the impact of OUD and SUD on maternal health and connecting families with information that can save lives.
Today, wear purple. Learn the signs of an overdose. Learn how to use naloxone. Check on the mothers and caregivers in your life. Remember the people who have been lost without reducing their lives to their substance use.
Most importantly, keep these conversations going after August 31st.
Support is available.
If you or someone you love is experiencing a mental health, suicide, or substance use crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
For information and treatment referrals related to mental health or substance use, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 (HELP).
To learn more about the various efforts DSAMH offers to support moms on their path to recovery, visit www.helpisherede.com.
If you believe someone is experiencing an overdose, call 911 immediately and administer naloxone if available.
Comments