If you aren't going to get clean for the pregnancy then you have no business having the baby IMO. And although I am pro choice I am also PRO LIFE as its included in the CHOICE part.
What about my son? Did I have no business having him?
I got pregnant when a condom broke while I was on methadone treatment after getting clean off heroin. I didnt even know I was pregnant until I was over 3 months into it. By that time I couldn't bear the idea of an abortion. And detoxing while pregnant is life threatening for the baby. So I stayed on methadone, to keep my baby safe. I had him, he didnt need any medication or any detoxing, and hes perfectly healthy and normal. You dont know the situation of everybody put in the position of being physically dependent on a drug and then finding that they are pregnant, so u want to keep judging, or take a minute and learn a bit?
A baby is actually harmed MORE by the withdrawal than by the drug. Opiates are non-teratogenic. Im definitely not speaking for other drugs like coke, stimulants, antidepressants, benzos, etc, because they all fall into different classes, but Im talking about opiates alone here.
The danger and damage to a baby in the womb of a woman addicted to heroin , for example, is overwhelmingly caused NOT by the drug, but by shitty lifestyle--little to no prenatal care, no prenatal vitamins, poor diet and/or mal- or under-nutrition, stressful environment, high co occurence of poly drug use or alcohol use, exposure to STDs and other diseases from unsafe injection or sex, and the BIGGEST factor--the unstability caused by the constant withdrawal/use cycle.
Dont get me wrong, I sure as hell aint saying that its all cool and good to just shoot dope while youre pregnant as long as you take your vitamins and whatever. But what I am pointing out is that in the case of OPIATES, THEY DO NOT CAUSE BRAIN DAMAGE. They are not poisonous to the infants development. Its not like drinking while pregnant, for example. Taking opiates does not cause birth defects or brain damage in the baby.
WITHDRAWAL on the other hand can cause DEATH of the baby.
True story, a woman and her baby would be SAFER, being provided competent medical and prenatal care, good nutrition, all the necessary shit that middle and upper class women with access to insurance and all that get during pregnancy, and given pharm. grade heroin by a doctor in monitored, timed doses, than she would be trying to kick during her pregnancy.
Is it the IDEAL situation to get pregnant while on any type of drug? No, for sure it aint.
But there is so much fucking misinformation out there about this particular subject, and so many of yall BUY IT, even here on BL! And it just makes me sick! approach the issue without a biased-as-fuck mind. Look at the FACTS, dont just "think with your gut".
My son had absolutely nothing wrong with him. NO issues, no developmental problems, nothing, hes completely healthy and ahead of his age group in a few areas too. And Yes, one personal experience really dont mean shit as far as statistics go, but if you actually research this shit and ANALYZE and look into the results with a critical mind youll find that the problems associated with the use of opiates during pregnancy DO NOT COME FROM THE DRUG ITSELF, but from the terrible lifestyle of many of the women who are addicted while pregnant. Its not the opiates thats the problem. The difference between a kid born to a mom whose running the streets, constantly getting dopesick and going thru W/D, using dirty needles, not eating right, not getting prenatal care, VS the mom who is on a methadone program and getting all the right care and nutrition and is in a stable environment, and youll see the difference. Its not the drug itself. Withdrawal is more toxic to a developing baby than an opiate being in its system. Its all in the way that she is living and the care and treatment shes getting.
Turn it around, too--Take a mom, who lives in some magical fairy land where heroin is prescribed. Give her good prenatal care, good diet, stable housing, supportive family and friends network, a existence thats not full of stress and trouble, and daily pharmaceutical quality (meaning, pure, not street-quality) heroin doses administered by a qualified doctor, kept at a stable unchanging level in her body. Then compare her to a mom who is running the streets, not eating right, homeless, having no prenatal care, and who is taking methadone, but getting it off the street on a unreliable schedule so that her body is not maintained at a constant level with the drug and she lapses into withdrawal on the regular. The kid of the mother with the stable opiate maintenance of a pharm. and not street-grade drug, who is given the right care and support, is the one who will be healthier. Its the bad lifestyle and unstable environment added to the damage caused by going into withdrawal that cause these issues in the babies. Its not just the fact that an opiate is being used. do some research on this, instead of just reading shittily-researched articles with sound-byte quotes that just repeat the same old scary bullshit time and time again.
