Lauren Narbey, CNM, PhD, recently successfully defended her dissertation entitled “Patterns of Breastfeeding Among Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder and Integration of Lactation Support into Perinatal Recovery Programs Across the United States.”  Her clinical practice as a midwife and research interests have focused on optimizing care for individuals with perinatal opioid use disorder. She will continue this work as a postdoctoral associate with Dr. Elizabeth Krans at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Lauren will spearhead multiple projects on factors complicating recovery for pregnant and postpartum individuals with opioid use disorder. Lauren extended an invitation to attend her PhD defense to ARCS Pittsburgh co-president, Anne Crawford. "I was pleased to accept for two special reasons. First, it was important to represent ARCS Pittsburgh Chapter in this important occasion. Second, after serving more than ten years on the Sojourner House and Sojourner MOMS Boards of Directors, I know first-hand the biases and misconceptions around mothers in recovery. Lauren’s defense presentation provided the factors that were negatively impacting these mothers from even trying breastfeeding while showing data supporting these mothers being able to safely breast feed their newborns."

Lauren is also the April 2024 recipient of the Jeanne Berdik Scholar Achievement Award- Narbey from Pitt’s School of Nursing received her award for her passionate research in addressing health inequities faced by pregnant and postpartum moms with substance use disorders. Lauren came to Pitt with a decade of clinical experience caring for women impacted by opioid use. The Jewish Healthcare Foundation just co-awarded a Maternal Care Innovation Grant to Lauren to address midwifery prescribing practices for individuals with opium use disorder. Lauren’s work is referenced in numerous publications and she has made multiple presentations both nationally and internationally.