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Drug Addiction and Your Baby

© Geneva M. Edwards

Drug Addiction During Pregnancy

Drug addiction and substance abuse during pregnancy include chronic heroin dependence and experimentation with a variety of stimulants, sedatives, and mood-altering drugs, producing a complex polydrug-abuse syndrome. Polydrug-abuse syndrome is more common among teenage mothers. The use of cocaine and cocaine derivatives such as crack cocaine has become an endemic in the very recent years, spreading across all social classes. Did you know that approximately twenty-five percent of adults are estimated to have used marijuana or cocaine at least once, and more than five million people in the United States are reported to be regular cocaine users, many of them women of childbearing ages?

Marijuana..........

A lot of mothers may believe that smoking marijuana does not jeopardize their unborn child. However, on the contrary, tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active ingredient of marijuana can cross the placenta, so the potential for damage to the fetus does exist.

Cocaine...............

Cocaine abuse during pregnancy is associated with various maternal and fetal problems. Cocaine, is a central nervous system stimulant. It has vasoconstrictive effects, significantly decreasing blood flow to the fetus, resulting in periods of decreased oxygen. Many cocaine users use other drugs, exposing the fetus to many drugs, compounding the problems. For women who use cocaine throughout pregnancy it has been proven that they are at a greater risk for premature births of their babes, and a greater chance of delivering still born babies.

Heroin.............

Heroin easily crosses the placenta and fetal withdrawal may occur if the mother undergoes rapid withdrawal. An unborn fetus exposed to heroin has an increased rate of infection. Babies born to mothers who used heroin during pregnancy are also associated with a decrease in birth weight, and an increase in stillbirths.

Fetal Addiction of Heroin............

Babies born to mothers who have a heroin addiction have a very difficult time and must stay in the hospital to receive treatment for withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms include hyperactivity, convulsions, diarrhea, fever, sleep abnormalities, and respiratory distress. Once they are discharged from the hospital they may even experience abnormal breathing patterns during sleep, thus increasing the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome seen in these children.

The effects of maternal heroin addiction may persist in the offspring for an extended period of time, resulting in poor growth and development. They may demonstrate behavioral abnormalities, including impaired organization and perception skills, impaired motor inhibition and mental retardation.

Treatment...........

The best treatment is preventive medicine. Do not do any type of drugs, especially if you are pregnant. (Remember alcohol and nicotine are also drugs). If you do drugs you are putting your unborn child at risk, not respecting the life of your fetus. On the other hand if you are pregnant and you have an addiction please don't deny your problem. You must seek help from a health professional so that you can ensure providing your unborn child the healthiest uterine environment possible.