Destine Patterson

English IV

Mrs.Battle

10 March, 2017

Babies Born Addicted to Drugs

The responsibility of carrying and bringing a new life into this world is one that cannot

be taken lightly. - Gloria Estefan (brainyquote). According to a 2014 study by the Substance

Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 15.8 million women (or 12.9 percent) ages

18 or older have used illicit [illegal drugs including marijuana] drugs in the past year (NIDA).

Many of these women are and will be pregnant during that time. In fact, there are theories

saying that genetics is a component that can make a person more susceptible to being addicted to

drugs. Another theory is monkey see monkey do, which in other terms mean that drug abuse

may be a learned behavior; people are doing what they see other people do because it may seem

cool, or they are being pressured by peers.(Wood) Studies show that long term drug abuse can

alter the brain's structure and chemistry, which can increase the desire to keep using drugs

regardless of the consequences.(Wood) Thus, a woman may not stop using drugs even when

pregnant because she is not able to make rational decisions. According to Web MD,Illegal

drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine aren't the only drugs that are harmful to

fetal development. Additionally caffeine, alcohol and over the counter drugs can harm a fetus;

furthermore, cocaines impact on a fetus can last a lifetime and is usually instantaneous.(Drug

use and pregnancy) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum

Disorder(FASD) are a range of disorders caused by the mother drinking when expecting.(Drug
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use and pregnancy) When infants are exposed to drugs before birth they suffer mental and

physical birth defects; therefore; however, treating the mother like a criminal instead of

supporting her and her baby to be clean and healthy will only harm the chances that a child will

have a healthy and bright future.

All drugs potentially can cause birth defects in an unborn child. Any drug taken without a

doctors consent can potentially harm a fetus. According to Web MD, cocaine has many

consequences including, heart attacks, respiratory failure,strokes, and seizures. Taking drugs

while pregnant escalates the chance of birth defects. Some of those defects include premature

and underweight babies as well as stillborn births.(Drug use and pregnancy) Using cocaine or

methamphetamine can cause preterm labor and low birth weight.(Drug use and pregnancy)

Infants exposed to cocaine tend to have smaller heads which can lead to a lower IQ.They also are

at high risk of birth defects that modify the urinary tract or heart.Cocaine can also cause a stroke

in an unborn fetus leading to brain damage or even death.(Drug use and pregnancy) Alcohol

and marijuana have been proven to cause behavior problems in early childhood; It can also affect

memory and concentration. Infants born to women who use drugs can have problems all the way

up to adolescence.(Drug use and pregnancy) Women who smoke cigarettes can deliver infants

with many different heart defects, including septal defect which is basically a hole in the wall

between the heart's right and left chambers. Infants with this defect usually die and those who do

not, live with a lifetime of disabilities. Women who smoke tend to have low birth weight infants,

premature deliveries,and infants with a cleft palate. Further, Sudden Infant Death
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Syndrome(SIDS) is an effect associated when mothers smoke.(Drug use and pregnancy) Fetal

Alcohol Syndrome can cause abnormal facial features and problems with the central nervous

system.(Drug use and pregnancy) Additionally, the infants may also be very irritable and may

even have feeding difficulties.(Drug use and pregnancy).Even women who digest caffeine in

large quantities may deliver a infant who has a low birth weight and irritability.(Drug use and

pregnancy).

Early on, laws looked at maternal drug use while a woman was pregnant as child abuse.

In the 1997 case Whitner v. South Carolina, the court upheld the conviction of a woman

charged with criminal child abuse for using cocaine during pregnancy. The court ruled that a

viable fetus is a person under the state's criminal child endangerment statute and that

endangering the fetuss life could constitute child abuse. (SOURCE?) Some states began to

look at the issue as an epidemic and look at support rather than punishment for the addicted

mother.

There are laws to protect both the mother and the child. The state of Tennessee, who has

seen a steady increase in addicted newborns, is taking preventative action to help both mothers

and infants, but not everyone is on board

Mothers who reside there are questioned about

drug use, what drugs she may have taken and

when was the last time the drug was

taken.(willard) Urine tests may also be used to

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screen for drugs (willard) Many people are advocating getting women help through drug

rehabilitation instead of incarceration. In fact, a Tennessee law now requires doctors who

examine and determine that an expecting mother is endangering her child through abuse of

prescription drugs to Seek drug abuse counseling/treatment.(willard) To ensure women are

taking the treatment option the General Assembly in Tennessee is looking at encouraging

mothers to receive treatment by threatening them with incarceration.(willard). If they do not take

the treatment option, expecting mothers may be subjected to criminal charges upon delivering

the infant.(willard). The judiciary branch is considering Senate Bill 1391 sponsored by

Reginald Tate D-Memphis, which threatens women with prosecution if they illegally (take) a

narcotic drug while pregnant and the infant is born addicted, harmed, or dies because of the drug

intake of the mother. Many people are worried that threatening women with criminal charges

could encourage women who are doing drugs to seek an abortion.(willard).

Drugs can change an infant's growth and development and have to be medically treated

for withdrawal symptoms. Even Alcohol can cause a growth deficiency, a range of physical

disabilities, attention span disorders,and learning disabilities.(Drug use and pregnancy) A baby

addicted to drugs or alcohol has definite behavior changes such as: - anxiety, depression,

moodiness, and very worrisome. In a study, Newborns' stools were also tested for evidence of

the drug and the researchers found that at age 3, scores for anxiety, depression and moodiness

were slightly higher in meth-users' children, with differences persisting at age 5. The older

children who'd been exposed to meth also had more aggression and attention problems similar to
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ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is clear through research, that maternal drug

use while pregnant, impacts babies well into their youth. There are treatments for infants going

through withdrawal the first step is finding out what the drug is. In order to treat withdrawal

symptoms you first have to know which drug was involved, the infant's overall health an

abstinence scores and whether the infant was born full term or premature. (Willard)

Hospitals make sure that the babies in the neonatal unit are comfortable and safe. As an

illustration, Lexi, a 2 week 6 pound baby, is swaddled in soft hospital blankets at Women and

Infants Hospital in Providence, R.I. Since she was born, she has been experiencing symptoms of

opioid withdrawal. Her mother took methadone to wean herself from heroin when she got

pregnant, just as doctors advised. But now the hospital team has to wean newborn Lexi from the

methadone. Lexi has neonatal abstinence syndrome, and has been getting methadone treatments

for it. She is getting better, but even with treatment she's had tremors, diarrhea, and she's cried

and cried. Her arms and legs tighten up, her fingers and toes clenched She has also been feverish.

Lexis Mom, Carrie, was addicted to heroin herself and knows withdrawal is miserable. She's

been off heroin since she found out that she was pregnant with help from methadone. The small

dose of methadone keeps a low level of opioid in her system so she doesn't go into withdrawal,

but it doesn't get her high. For Carrie and thousands like her, methadone is a lifesaver, helping

them quit a heroin or oxycodone or other opioid habit for good. "It's hard to watch, as her

mother," Carrie says, "because you're helpless and there's really nothing you can do. You are a

lot of the reason why she's going through what she's going through." Babies going through
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withdrawal spend weeks even months in hospital nurseries like this one. According to

hospital nurses, the cry of infants going through withdrawal is very different, It's a more

distressed cry. (Gourlay)

Healthcare is looking at the drug epidemic in a new way. In fact, doctors and nurses

viewed the mother as the enemy and fosscused attention on the babys recovery. In fact, Carolyn

Rossi a registered nurse at the Hospital of Central Connecticut states, "'The mothers are drug

addicts and the baby is born a drug addict and we're trying to protect the baby from the mother.

At one time it was a lot about taking babies away from moms. The staff at Central

Connecticut is now looking at the mother as a victim herself and In some cases that means

getting care providers to understand that addiction isn't a moral failure, and that many people

who are addicted come from a lifetime of trauma. Rossi says that this new way of thinking can

be hard for older nurses who were trained to focus on the baby only. Mothers were kept away

from their babies seeing themselves as not important in their childs healing with all the medical

staff tending to the childs needs. Now, nurses are trying to change the thinking 'no, they're

not getting everything they need if you're not here. Because they need you.' " Looking at the

mother as an important part of healing the family is essential to the baby growing up in a health

and happy home. (Cohen)

There are very few programs out there that help both the mother and the baby. It is

insisted that doctors report every case to child protection workers not necessarily to remove

babies, officials say, but to keep them safe while helping their mothers.(today). A charity in
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nearby Huntington has a program designed to do more than simply wean newborns off drugs.

Health care and social workers also train mothers fighting their own addictions to care for the

difficult babies. Experts say only a handful of similar programs exist nationwide. At the

hospital,Yeager The mom struggling with addiction was among the first to be offered entry into

West Virginias pilot program, which began in October 2014. To enroll, she had to sign her

daughter Kennedy over to state custody. If both baby and mother successfully completed the

program, the social worker promised, Yeager would get Kennedy back. This new approach is

helping to reunite families by treating the mother and her addiction as well as the babys

addiction. (Shiffman).

In closing, mothers who are addicted to drugs while pregnant are not necessarily the bad

guys. The babies are not the only ones struggling. It is true that babies born addicted to drugs

or alcohol go through withdrawal symptoms such as shaking, stomach issues, and they clench

their fists as they cry out in pain. In order for the baby to become healthy and to grow he or she

needs its mother. If both the mother and the baby go through treatment together, it helps not

only the baby to get clean, but it encourages mom to not regress. The natural bond a baby and a

mother have is developed as both go through treatment. There needs to be more facilities for

both the mother and the baby for follow-up care. Recovery isnt done in isolation and cant be

done alone. Mothers and babies both deserve the best start to a new life.
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Works Cited

Abuse, National Institute on Drug. "Substance Use in Women." NIDA. N.p., 01 Sept. 2015. Web.

24 Mar. 2017.

Campbell, Heather. "Heather Campbell." E-mail interview. 1 Mar. 2017.

Cohen, Jeff. "To Help Newborns Dependent On Opioids, Hospitals Rethink Mom's Role." NPR.

NPR, 26 Mar. 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

"Drug Use and Pregnancy." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Gourlay, Kristin. "Tiny Opioid Patients Need Help Easing Into Life." NPR. NPR, 25 Mar. 2016.

Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

Shiffman, John. "New Help for Babies in Withdrawal and Moms Battling Addiction."

TODAY.com. NBC News, 08 Dec. 2015. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

Willard, Michelle. "Lawmakers Consider Jailing Mothers of Babies Born Drug-Addicted."

TNReport. TNReport, 30 Oct. 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Wood, Debra. "Drug Abuse and Addiction." Salem Press Encyclopedia Health. N.p.: Salem

Encyclopedia Health, 2015. Explora. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.