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Training Logo - Pregnancy, Postpartum, & Early Parenting: Peer Support for Families Impacted by Substance Use

Course 1
Pregnancy and Substance Use: A Peer’s Role

Course 1 overviews the unique elements of providing peer support to pregnant or postpartum participants. It challenges support specialists (“peers”) to stop and consider if this work is their calling before jumping into this challenging yet rewarding work. This course helps prepare peers to work ethically and effectively by first building self-awareness around biases, motivations, and sustainable self-care practices. Peers will review core skills including Motivational Interviewing and trauma-informed care. The course prompts peers to consider the unique complexities of navigating stigma and maintaining professional boundaries when working with pregnant or postpartum participants, including in situations that may involve intimate partner violence or mandatory reporting. The course also reviews how to assess needs through frameworks like social determinants of health and recovery capital, and how to build support networks. Finally, it equips peers to advocate for their role within clinical systems and provides a wealth of actionable resources.

Before You Begin

Please take a moment to learn a bit about the continuing education credits and program certificate opportunities available for this training program. Additionally, review some helpful tips to minimize technical or connection issues while navigating the website. Learn more about our wording choices used in the modules, the valued contributors who helped develop the curriculum, and a funding acknowledgement.

The “Pregnancy, Postpartum, and Early Parenting: Peer Support for Families Impacted by Substance Use” program certificate recognizes a peer’s interest in and commitment to supporting pregnant and postpartum individuals. Please note completing this training program does not change your scope of practice as a peer or accredit or certify you to work outside of the policies, regulations, and/or boundaries that currently apply in your role, organization, and location.

The program certificate is divided into three separate courses, with the following CEUs available for each course:

  • Course 1: Pregnancy and Substance Use: A Peer’s Role – 3 CEUs
  • Course 2: Pregnancy, Parenting, and Substance Use: Navigating Systems – 3 CEUs
  • Course 3: Knowledge to Equip Peers for Each Pregnancy Stage – 4.5 CEUs

Each course can be completed independently and provides CEUs upon completion. To earn the program certificate, participants must complete all three courses. The courses may be completed in any order; however, we recommend starting with Course 1: Pregnancy and Substance Use: A Peer’s Role.

Earning the program certificate demonstrates a successful completion of specialized training focused on supporting pregnant and postpartum individuals. It reflects your knowledge, dedication, and commitment to providing informed and supportive services to individuals during pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Visit the Faces & Voices of Recovery Frequently Asked Questions page.

We hope this course reaches peers and professionals in many different settings and communities. We also recognize how important language choices are, especially when discussing substance use and recovery. Many voices helped shape this course, and we aim to present information in a way that is empowering and affirming for all learners. Yet, we acknowledge the reality that there are many differences of opinion among respected and dedicated individuals in the field. There is not a single set of terms or phrases that everyone agrees on. Regardless, we hope the overall tone of the training clearly conveys our care and respect for all, even when our wording may not match an individual’s preference.

Throughout this course, we use the term “peer” to refer to anyone working/volunteering to support others in their recovery. This includes peer support specialists, recovery coaches, and many other similar professions, both certified and not. We use the term “participants” to refer to any individual receiving support from a peer.

We extend our deepest gratitude to the numerous individuals who contributed their time, expertise, and effort to the successful development of this continuing education certificate program to address the need for a no-cost, standardized training for Peer Recovery Workers. Their dedication and hard work have been integral to bringing this course to fruition.

Content Development Team

We appreciate the efforts of the content development team, whose expertise and creativity shaped the course content and structure:

  • Amparo Atencio, ORAU – Project Administration and Technical Editor
  • Laurel Brown, ORAU – Instructional Designer
  • Hannah Lowry, Faces & Voices of Recovery – Content Writer
  • Jennifer Reynolds, ORAU – Content Writer
  • Betsy Smither, ORAU – Project Director and Content Developer
Recovery Community Organization Project Partners

We sincerely thank the Recovery Community Organizations (RCO) who partnered with us to identify and recruit peers for focus groups and pilot testing, to review course content, and contribute case studies:

  • Intentional Holistic Opportunities to Promote Empowerment (iHOPE)
  • Portland Recovery Community Center (PRCC)
  • Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness (USARA)
Pilot Testing Participants

We would like to thank our pilot course facilitator for skillfully guiding the group discussions and ensuring that all voices offering valuable feedback were heard:

  • Michelle Kavouras, CDCS, CADC, NCPRSS, RCPF*

We express our sincere appreciation to the pilot course participants. Their contributions were instrumental in shaping the final version of the course to be engaging, digestible, and cohesive:

  • Danielle Cooley, CPS-AD, CPS-MH
  • Kristina Day, CIPSS, LADC*
  • Julie Egdahl, CPRC
  • Kristin Fogarty, CPRC, RCP-F
  • Valerie Jansen, CPS
  • Kayla Jensen, CPS
  • Rosa Martinez
  • Susan Maxwell, BS, CPS-AD, WHAM
  • Katie O’Neal, CPS-AD, MPS, FPM
  • Elizabeth Myers, CPS
  • Deborah Reid, JD, MPS
  • Erica Reynolds
  • Gianna Salerno
  • Karilee Shepherd, CPSS
  • Tarusa Stewart, CPS-AD, CAC1
  • Kristin Vaast, CPSRP
  • Theresa York, CPRC
Advisory Group

Finally, we extend special thanks to our Advisory Group members, who independently reviewed and provided invaluable feedback on the course content. Their diverse perspectives and expertise, including lived experiences and professional knowledge in supporting pregnant and postpartum individuals and expertise in pregnancy, pediatrics, and substance use disorders (SUD), have been instrumental.

  • Telia Anderson, CD(DONA), CRM II, PWS, CPpD
  • Jasmin Charles, MPAS, PA-C*
  • Children and Family Futures
  • Lisa Cleveland, PhD, APRN, CPNP-PC, FAAN
  • Amanda Fallin-Bennett, PhD, RN
  • Racquel Garcia, NCPRSS, YRC
  • Marcie Gray, LSUDC
  • Hendrée E. Jones, PhD, LP
  • Pam Lanhart, CPS
  • Amy Loree, PhD, LP, PMH-C
  • Stephen Patrick, MD, MPH, MS, FAAP
  • Joelle Puccio, BSN, RN, MPH (anticipated Spring 2027)
  • Crystal Randall, CPSS
  • Deborah Reid, JD, MPS
  • Marcela Smid, MD, MA, MS
  • Mishka Terplan, MD, MPH
  • Britt Westmoreland

* Additionally served as a content writer or in-depth reviewer.

This training program was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $1,177,115 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

Content and resource links in this training were all current as of 2025.