It seems as if I just answered this question! I am going to refer you to my blog, because I have references there that relate to Suboxone during pregnancy, breast feeding on buprenorphine, etc. The bottom line is that Suboxone/Subutex does not have the track record that methadone has, but the general consensus is similar-- that it is safest to keep the mom on the maintenance agent, whether it is methadone or buprenorphine.
Withdrawal involves a number of 'adult' thoughts and feelings, including guilt and shame.... things the baby will not experience. And compared to having one's head squeezed through a tube that is half the diameter of our skulls, the discomfort of withdrawal cannot be much worse! Finally, a decade ago we did open heart surgeries on newborns without anesthesia-- using only paralyzing agents! My biggest fear is that a mean nurse will make you feel bad, at a time that should be joyous. I encourage you to ignore those who judge you for your decision to handle this in whatever way you ultimately choose.
I have quite a bit about buprenorphine and pregnancy on my blog, suboxonetalkzone.com. I encourage you to go there and search for pregnancy, epidurals, breast feeding, etc. I do have a reference there that you might want to share with your OB doc, about the mild nature of withdrawal in newborns on buprenorphine. I think the risk of simply being in a neonatal ICU are greater than any risks directly from buprenorphine (we don't know of any risks to the infant at this point). I have had 5 or 6 women go through pregnancy on buprenorphine, and all have done well.
Congratulations, and good luck!
Hey I jst figure I tell u my story bc I was on subutex and jst had my baby girl..I was on 16mg of sub and when she was born she had no withdraw...the 2nd day her score was @ a 2 and day 3 she was @ a 6 ....they did keep her a extra 2 days to monter for w/d symptoms bc they say it will start the worst on day 4...well luckly her worst was on day 3 wen she was a 6...she was very twitchey and u could notice and it killed me..but ne ways I found the nurses in the nursery were very nice it was the actual nurses that were mean n judgemental...but overall I was dichared on day 2 and then 2 days later she came home and is heathly as can b...she did have a little juandice and when I had her she swalloed amiodic fluid so I had that excuse that's why they wanted to keep her a little longer to tell my parents.....so good luck and jst pray to god every night and he will b by ur side...hope this helped and good luck...
I just wanted to respond to your question. I'm am also an addict. I am currently taking Subutex and it works wonders for me. Well, I did get pregnant so I'm guessing that has a ton to do with my staying clean. Anyways, I delivered my baby boy on Sunday March 8th. On Tuesday March 10th the nurses had told me that he was experiencing some withdrawals. I was shocked because so many women had said that their baby's were fine and they were taking a much higher dose than I was. He was put in the NICU and stayed there for a week. It was so hard for me to go home withot my baby. I felt so bad that my lil one was uncomfortable and had to enter this world born addicted to a narcotic. The Doctors put him on a schedule taking Methadone. He was given .3mg 3x a day for one day, .3mg 2x a day, and so on. As hard as this was for me he turned out fine. I was so worried he was going to die. He's doing well now. By the way, you CAN breastfeed. I wasn't aware of that but the lactation specialist told me it was fine. They judge it by a level system, level 1- level 6. You can breastfeed if it's anything from a level 1- level 3. Subutex is a level 2. It's safe. I know all the sites and even some doctors say you can't but I assure you, ask a specialist. They will tell you it's ok. Good luck with everything. Congrats on the baby. You will be fine :)