The Problem Of Being Born Addicted

Morris, M., Seibold, C., & Webber, R. (2012, April). Drugs and having babies: An exploration of how a specialist clinic meets the needs of chemically dependent pregnant women. Midwifery, 28(2), 163-72. Retrieved from http://ebscohost.com.ezproxy.hsc.usf.edu/ehos

In the United States, there has been a growing concern for the number of newborn children that have been exposed to drugs while in utero. The defenseless fetus is subject to any and all substances that the mother ingests, injects, or inhales into her body. Significantly decreased gestational ages as well as low birth weight have been linked to infants that have been born to mothers who are engaging in substance abuse. Marijuana, cocaine, cigarettes, methamphetamine, heroin, and alcohol are some of the more widely abused substances among pregnant mothers (Bailey, McCook, Hodge, & McGrady, 2012).

“Since 1985 about 250 Women in 30 states have been criminally prosecuted in relation to drug abuse while pregnant.” (Coles, par 16) Since there isn’t a law in place for a woman being convicted for drinking or smoking while pregnant, they dig a little deeper and get more technical. Charges for unlawful child neglect, delivering drugs to a minor, homicide by child abuse and even manslaughter have been given to mothers who abuse drugs or alcohol while pregnant. Some even believe in terminating the woman’s parental rights. Whether or not the child shows signs before birth, they have started to test newborns for drugs and prosecute from there. (NAPW, par 33-35)

punishment, e.g. whether the mother’s actions be perceived as criminal or treated as it would for one suffering from an illness in need of appropriate treatment. The diversity of dramatically different responses to this issue, illustrates the failure to establish a uniform policy for the management of this conundrum. As we discussed earlier, using controlled substances while pregnant can produce multiple adverse psychological, biological and developmental effects on the fetus, including death. In reality, pregnant women who use controlled substances consist mostly of the poor and minorities. The social policy context for these women includes dramatic reductions in services and access to legal recourse. Research has also shown that many drug users are also committed parents. One large barrier to seeking treatment is that the substance abuser is afraid that if they seek help they will lose custodial rights to their children. Something worth noting here is that, research suggests that pregnant women hold concern for the welfare of their unborn child(ren), but are too afraid to seek treatment for fear of losing custody of their baby. This fear is a direct consequence of the policies that we currently have in place. This is not to say that a child should not be removed from its parent’s custody in appropriate circumstances, but rather to suggest that

In the United States, prenatal substance use continues to be a widespread problem with the addictive substances used during pregnancy; the risk factors, and the long-term effects a baby can have. When a pregnant woman uses drugs, she and her unborn child face serious health problems. Long-term effects of drugs on babies can include behavioral problems as they grow older. They can also be born addicted to the drugs used to treat the mother’s addiction. The task at hand is to make sure that we view all drugs of abuse through a common lens, regardless of legal status, so that their impact on child outcome can be adequately assessed leading to appropriate policy

For many years now, we have heard about the controversy of chemically addicted mothers and the detrimental effects is has on their children and unborn fetus. Social norms quickly label mothers as unacceptable or inadequate. For this issue to be addressed, we will look at drug treatment options, the social impact of the problem, ethical concerns, family issues, and incarnation of chemically addicted mother. Furthermore, we will look at addiction prevention.

There are many reasons why pregnant substance abuse should be treated as a major issue. The effects of substance abuse on the mother, fetus, and the overall pregnancy can range from none to extremely harmful. Women who use drugs during their pregnancy commonly give birth to “crack babies” or “drug babies”. These babies can have developmental disabilities or other birth defects. The mother may give birth to a premature infant, underweight infant, or even have a stillborn birth. The drug use of a pregnant woman has a direct impact on the baby. While the mother is ingesting methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, tobacco, or even caffeine, the fetus is also taking it in. For example, the negative effects of cocaine on the mother can

Many women, including teens, abuse drugs while they are pregnant. This rate is especially high to those who are homeless, underprivileged, or live in a broken home. In order for drug abusers to even have a chance at beating their addiction they have to have support whether it’s family, friends, or boyfriend/spouse. They must also let the abuser now all the consequences to themselves and the unborn child. There are many consequences when using drugs during pregnancy such as miscarriage, health risks to baby, and health risks to the mother. And learning disabilities and brain damage to the fetus.

Drinking alcohol when expecting can cause the child to have learning difficulties, attitude problems, dysmorphic features, and developmental delay. Using heroin and methadone can cause preterm delivery, perinatal mortality, and low birth weight. These are serious health problems that are very usual for babies to get when their mothers drink and/or smoke and/or use drugs when pregnant. The fact that the child has no defense against this, he/she is so helpless of something that could seriously ruin his/her life. Kids should be brought into the world being set up for success, not being held back by the disabilities that could have been prevented by the mom. Not only for the child’s health, but for the mother’s health and safely. Being addicted to using drugs has serious health issues for your mind and body, can cause seizures, liver failure, cardiovascular conditions, paranoia, aggression, hallucinations, addiction, and many more possible health

Abusing substances such as illegal drugs or pain medications during pregnancy can cause harmful, long term effects to not only the mother, but also to the unborn infant. McQueen, Murphy-Oikonen, and Desaulniers (2015) stated that, “in the United States approximately 4.4% of pregnant women abuse 1 or more substances during pregnancy… However, the true prevalence of substance use during pregnancy is difficult to determine due to underreporting likely because of the social undesirability, stigmatization and illegal aspects of use” (para. 2). According to Santoro et al. (2016), a baby is born each hour with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). An infant born from a mother who abused substances will experience withdrawals and show

When a pregnant woman continues to smoke (based on what they smoke), the baby is exposed to many more hazards than they are for alcohol. Exposure to cigarette smoke can cause respiratory and cardiovascular system defects as well as growth restriction causing the baby to be born prematurely. When exposed to marijuana, babies develop various internal health problems such as a reduced blood sugar and calcium in blood level, sepsis (blood infection), ICH (intracranial hemorrhage), fast breathing and more.

Mothers addicted to heroin during a pregnancy are not only harmful to mother and child during gestation but have many social and medical problems after birth of the child. In the first paragraph I describe how women might come to find themselves in the situation of abusing drugs and finding out they are pregnant. I will provide information on some signs or a profile of addiction and substance abuse in women. The next point I will cover is through an interesting study that shows what the mothers pregnancy , the babies birth and postpartum outcomes are. I will explore what the options are for treatment during pregnancy and whether the mother can be separated from her dependency. Lastly I will disclose what the legal and social implications for chemical dependent women hold. Do moms go to jail? I will bring to light what the future holds for new born that have a mother who is addicted to heroin.

When a mother is expecting a child, she is responsible for taking care of herself as well as the baby. When a woman chooses to put her life as well as her babies in jeopardy, then she should face criminal persecution for doing so. Evidences shows that when doing drugs, drinking, or smoking when pregnant poses a higher risk for having a child with potential life threatening disorders. Given how many different programs are possible through government aid, rehab and counseling there is simply no way to argue that babies should be born with higher risks for birth defects. Especially as women get older, the risks also goes up higher for potential newborn problems. To increase these risks is simply irresponsible and should never be allowed to happen. These disorders will also raise the costs of healthcare for the baby and potentially for taxpayers to pay, should the mother not be able to pay for those herself. Charges should be brought upon her should any of these action be performed and result in harm to herself or the future of her unborn child.

A fourth of people who seek treatment for their addiction are women, and in most cases, it is when they are in labor, and therefore too late to protect the baby. Those who continue to abuse substances while pregnant put their babies at risk for premature birth, poor nutritional state, birth defects and a chance of addiction upon birth. Additionally, babies born to these mothers typically are at risk for low birth weight, risk of blood clot, and a higher risk for SIDS (Jenkins & Cook 2012). Being born into a family that abuses substances automatically puts you at a higher risk to abuse these substances in adulthood, but a child born from a mother who uses throughout pregnancy just about doubles those risks. Children of mothers who have misused substances are likely to have poor vision and visual responsiveness, and pay be cross-eyed. Research has shown that children who had prenatal substance exposure are at an increased risk for ADHD and other learning and attention problems. These symptoms can lead to poor childhood experiences in the early years, lack of education or education opportunities, and many will received the “delinquent” title at a

Growing up many of dream about that magical day when we become a mother. For all women this however may not be the case. Some may be knowing ingesting illegal substances, while others are just plain unaware of the damage that they are doing to their unborn babies. Before ever becoming pregnant the mother may have injured herself and was placed on prescription pain relievers to control the pain. Over time the mother becomes addicted to them not even thinking about what her use could do to her future children if she doesn’t stop.