WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump will receive a briefing on babies born addicted to drugs when she visits a Tennessee children’s hospital this week.
The first lady’s Tuesday visit to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville is tied to her “Be Best” initiative. Mrs. Trump unveiled the initiative at the White House in May to focus on childhood well-being, social media use and opioid abuse.
The White House says the first lady will participate in a roundtable discussion on neonatal abstinence syndrome, which occurs when a baby withdraws from drugs — usually opioids — that they were exposed to in the womb. The powerful class of painkillers is driving the deadliest drug overdose epidemic in U.S. history.
She’ll also tour a neonatal intensive care unit and visit with patients.
