New Home New Hope

Pregnant women and new moms struggling with substance use disorder face an uphill battle. But a New Hampshire residential treatment facility aimed at them is expanding, and with it, hope for their children.

- Sandy M. Fernandez

ARIEL ROBBINS Perkins says heroin has been part of her life for as long as she can remember. As a little girl growing up in rural New Hampshire, she was regularly exposed to people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction—one of her brothers eventually died of an overdose. Police cars and ambulances frequented her house, often in the middle of the night.

Ariel resisted the pull of drugs until age 19, when a friend convinced her to try heroin. She quickly became addicted.

Five years later, fresh from jail and mom to two kids with another on the way, Ariel walked into Hope on Haven Hill desperate for a new start. “I knew it was my last opportunity to get better,” says Ariel, now 27. “I had to do it for my kids.”

Located in Rochester, NH, Hope on Haven Hill was founded by Kerry Norton, R.N., a former labor and delivery nurse, and Colene Arnold, M.D., an obstetrician-gynecologist, in 2015. It’s one of only two in the state—and only a few in the nation—that cater specifically to pregnant and postpartum women in recovery trying to overcome addiction to opioids like heroin and other substances, allowing them to stay up to a year. Most of the women who live at Haven Hill have histories of trauma; many have been homeless, in jail, or both. But the women bring with them a fierce desire to change their lives.

“Whatever the stereotypes, the moment a woman gets pregnant is also a time when she might be more likely to accept help,” says Colene. “Our goal is to help them recognize they’re worthwhile, which really helps them stay sober.”

A RELENTLESS EPIDEMIC