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NEWS: 22.4.09 - More babies born to drug addicted mums

hyroller

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May 9, 2007
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MORE than a thousand babies are born in Australia every year with "Neonatal Withdrawal Syndrome" – the drug addiction that has mum in its grip.

Health experts say there has been an alarming increase in the number of these babies, pointing to a new WA-based study which found the rate increased 40-fold from 1980 to 2005.

Fiona Stanley, from Perth's Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, says her research was WA specific but the result could be extrapolated nation-wide.

"I don't think WA is that different from the rest of the nation in terms of this particular, rather worrying, set of statistics," said Professor Stanley.

"The actual level now (in WA) is 35 per 10,000 kids and if you translate that ... it's over a thousand children born in Australia.

"These are the opiates - heroin and methadone - and it could be the tip of the iceberg because we don't have data on children born to women taking other drugs."

The study looked at children born with an addiction to heroin, or methadone used to wean mum off the illegal drug. Of 637,195 live births recorded from 1980 and 2005, 906 were diagnosed with Neonatal Withdrawal Syndrome (NWS).

The figures show a stable and low number of these NWS births up to 1998, followed by a sharp increase up to 2002 then a plateau through to 2005.

"That was when heroin was less available ... We anticipate now with heroin coming back in to availability it may go up again," Prof Stanley said.

NWS-affected babies in WA increased over the 25 years from less than one per 10,000 live births annually to more than 40, before easing to 35. Improved monitoring of mothers and babies over the decades would account for part of the rise in cases, said Prof Stanley, but a real increase in drug use by pregnant mums was also a major contributor.

After birth, as these babies were in a drug withdrawal phase, they had a distinctive high-pitched cry, they were irritable and had tremors. The rapid emergence of NWS also meant the longer-term health implications for these children was not yet clear.

"It is quite likely that there may be an irreversible effect on the brain - we don't know - and there is some research from overseas which does suggest (this)," Prof Stanley said.

"On the whole, as with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome as well, there is no doubt now we are seeing quite significant increases."

Prof Stanley estimates the Australia-wide incidence of NWS was 40 in every 10,000 babies, or more than a thousand newborns every year.

As most of these mums had regular contact with health workers through mental health or drug abuse facilities, there was an avenue for new programs designed to prevent unplanned pregnancy or provide extra long-term parenting support, she said.

The research also found WA's NWS-affected children were at increased risk of parental neglect and they were also more likely to be taken into care.

The study is published in international journal Pediatrics.


retrieved here

this shit just makes me sad.
i don't know how someone could neglect their responsibilities as a parent, even pre-birth, and knowingly take drugs in such a reckless fashion while this life is still forming inside of them... :(
my ex's partner was still using (heroin & methadone) when she gave birth about 4 and a half years ago. poor kid had to be kept in a medical crib for its first few weeks of life because of the withdrawals. not nice, considering that is probably the beginning of the most significant bonding stages in early childhood. sigh. selfish c##ts. that's my view.
 
Yes it is very sad on the babies from drug affected mums, but unfortunately all parents (and parents-to-be) don't think the same as you or I do (or the other bluelighters out there). Some women are selfish as you say hyroller, and I wouldn't dispute there are cases out there where the person is fully aware what is going on inside her and the damages that will happen to the baby's development while she continues to use drugs. There are other cases out there where the people are reliant on the drugs for their 'balance' (or they are junkies) and the health of the baby is the very last thing on their mind.
There is not enough support for pregnant drug users. Having said that however it relies on the awareness of either the mum knowing she needs help or the people around her knowing it and forcing her to get help during the course of the pregnancy and then some more help.....and that is a lot longer than 9 months.

It's the babies I feel for - they had no choice in the matter.......neither do children who are created in order to save a relationship or for the personal needs of the mother but that is a different topic all together.
 
Breecamb said:
There is not enough support for pregnant drug users. Having said that however it relies on the awareness of either the mum knowing she needs help or the people around her knowing it and forcing her to get help during the course of the pregnancy and then some more help.....and that is a lot longer than 9 months.

Agreed. If a drug addicted woman discovers she is pregnant, she should be able to access services to get her off her drug of choice and to support her to prevent use during pregnancy in order to protect the health of both mother and child.
 
a doctor told a junkie pregnant girl i knew to keep on benzos and injecting subbies and then use treatment to ween the baby off it when born. sounds like it will be a stillbirth or something, poor poor child.
 
:(

the lack of resources is most definitely an issue.

what really irks me, though, is that people can somehow neglect to realise the fact that a child is growing inside of them & that not be enough motivation to go clean for the next 9 months... seriously... one would think it logical to abort the child rather than have it be born to someone incapable of maintaining their own health, at the very least... :(
 
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