Treatment For Babies Born Addicted To Drugs

The number of babies treated at florida hospitals for drug withdrawal syndrome continued to skyrocket last year further evidence of the far reaching impact of the state s prescription drug epidemic.

Treatment for babies born addicted to drugs.

The severity of the learning or developmental milestones common to infants and babies will depend on the drug and the severity of drug use in the pregnant mother according to the american council for drug education. Drug use during pregnancy may also lead to miscarriage or pre term labor. In 2010 1 374 babies were born addicted to drugs because their mothers were users a 42 percent increase from the year prior 1. Babies exposed to drugs in utero may experience developmental consequences including impaired growth birth defects and altered brain development.

To lessen the negative effects of opioid dependence on the fetus treatment with methadone has been used for pregnant women with opioid use disorder since the 1970s and has been recognized as the standard of care since 1998. According to the aap doctors have treated drug withdrawal symptoms in newborns with a variety of drug preparations including opioids tincture of opium neonatal morphine solution methadone and paregoric barbiturates phenobarbital benzodiazepines diazepam lorazepam clonidine and phenothiazines chlorpromazine. In most cases this medication is only needed for a few days. The number of babies born addicted to drugs has tripled in the last decade.

Prenatal drug exposure may impact the child s behavior language cognition and achievement long term. Most cocaine exposed infants do not need any medication but if the infant is excessively irritable she may benefit from a short course of phenobarbital. One of the most common treatments that is still provided to help babies born in this condition is the administration of morphine which is slowly decreased as the baby weans off of the opioids he or she is addicted to. Florida is reporting the highest numbers of addicted babies.

Babies who are born addicted to drugs can be treated either with or without medication and if medical interventions are necessary physicians typically use morphine. When the infant feels better the medication can be stopped without tapering. The rates are especially high in heavily troubled states such as tennessee and florida where the opiate epidemic is seeing some of the worst numbers. 102 103 recent evidence however suggests that buprenorphine may be an even better treatment option.

A baby born addicted to drugs may experience delays in learning from rolling over to crawling to walking and later on in school.