Methadone Rehabilitation

Question by Colorado: What % of babies born to meth addicted mothers are born healthy?

Best answer:

Answer by Miss Demanda
I don’t think there is any real way to know this. If a baby is born healthy, it’s unlikely the doctors would record anything about the mother’s addiction, if they even knew about it.

But the chances are high that the baby will have some type of birth defect- major or small. The effects it has on the babies is quite to crack cocaine. The environment the child is raised in after birth can also have a huge impact on the birth defect.

I hope you’re not actually in this situation.

Answer by Mommy
I don’t know what percent but I will give you an educated guess that no baby will be completely normal if their mother used drugs while pregnant, or nursing.

“Don’t worry about past drug use; just make sure it was your last. On the upside: a single use of a drug before you found out you were pregnant isn’t likely to have had any effect. On the downside: continuing to use it during pregnancy could be catastrophic. Drugs not only cross into the placenta, they can damage it, reducing blood flow to the fetus and restricting fetal growth, particularly that of the head. It can also lead to miscarriage, premature labor, stillbirth, and stroke at birth, as well as numerous long-term problems for your child. Among these are chronic diarrhea, irritability, excessive crying, neurological and behavior problems (such as difficulty with impulse control, with paying attention, and with responding to others), motor development deficits, and lower IQ scores. Certainly, the more the expectant mother uses drugs, the greater the risk to her baby. But even very occasinal use later on in pregnancy can be hazardous. For instance, a single use in the third trimester can trigger contractions or an abnormal fetal heartbeat.

Tell your practitioner about any drug use since you’ve conceived. As with every aspect of your medical history, the more your doctor or midwife knows, the better care you and your baby will receive. If you have any difficulty giving up drugs entirely, seek professional help immediately.

Pregnant women who use drugs of any kind – other than those that have been prescribed by a physician who knows they are pregnant – are putting their babies in jeopardy. Every known illicit drug (including heroin, cocaine, methadone, crack, ecstacy, “ice”, LSD, and PCP) and every prescription drug of abuse (including narcotics, tranquilizers, sedatives, and diet pills) can, with continued use, cause serious harm to a developing fetus and/or to your pregnancy. Check with your practitioner or another knowledgeable doctor about any drugs you’ve used during pregnancy, or call a hotline.. (1-800-662-HELP for one) to see what effect they could have had. Then, if you are still using drugs, get professional support (from a certified addiction counselor, an addictionologist, or a treatment center) to help you quit now. Enrolling in a drug-free-pregnancy program now can make a tremendous difference in the outcome of your pregnancy.”

I’d bet everything I own that it would be much more likely to have a baby with defects than to have a somewhat healthy baby from a mother who continues to use drugs throughout her pregnancy. If this is a personal question please get help immediately. No one is going to judge you and will help you every step of the way. If it is for a friend or just someone you know please be there to support her and help her get help. You’d be saving a baby’s life.

Family feared for baby in CYF care
According to a submission from CYF staff, the mother of the child, Tara Chadfield, was a heavy user of drugs and was on the methadone treatment programme for a methamphetamine addiction while pregnant with Ricco. A "safety plan" was drawn up by CYF …
Read more on Stuff.co.nz

Baby given morphine to wean off methadone, inquest hears
A baby who died while in Child Youth and Family care was born to a mother who was taking methadone and the infant had to be given morphine to wean him off the drug, an inquest in Marton has heard. Ricco Rain Chadfield-Spittal died at 12 weeks while …
Read more on New Zealand Herald