It?s been a natural progression that has meant anguish for thousands of newborn babies. First it was the increase in the number of prescriptions for addictive painkillers. Second, a growing number of people who are addicted to these drugs need rehab to get sober again.? Third, since some of these people who become addicted are pregnant during drug use or abuse, there?s been a surge in babies born into drug addiction.
According to this article, across the U.S., nurseries for newborns have to deal with increasing numbers of these babies that are actually at risk of death if they are not supported correctly. Once babies are born to an addicted mother, most of them go through what is called Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). That?s another way of saying they go through withdrawal because they are no longer being supplied with the drug that the mother was taking.
Because of the surge in babies born into drug addiction, more babies than ever before are screaming, twitching, vomiting, having diarrhea, being restless and rubbing their noses constantly, causing the noses to become raw and bloody. They can become dangerously dehydrated and malnourished, if they cannot keep their feedings down.
In some cases, hospitals have no choice but to administer tiny doses of drugs like methadone or morphine to prevent withdrawal symptoms. The baby must be weaned off these drugs before leaving the hospital, meaning that they may be there for weeks or even months.
It doesn?t necessarily work to put a woman who is already pregnant into a drug rehab program. She may not be able to withdraw from opiates herself, without miscarrying her baby. If she is put on what?s called a maintenance program, given daily doses of methadone or buprenorphine, she is not likely to just miscarry, but the baby may become addicted to these opiates.
The best solution is to get any addicted woman of childbearing age into rehab before she gets pregnant. Sobriety is the only guarantee that a child will not be born addicted. It?s never easy for a family to deal with an addicted loved one, but this is one time that it is essential to take whatever action is necessary to help a young woman get sober.
If the young woman refuses help, that doesn?t mean that the family should give up. It is now time to get an interventionist on the job. A professional interventionist knows how to talk to an addicted person to turn them around, getting them to want recovery for themselves. Many interventionists have themselves been addicted at one time and know what lies ahead if rehab is not utilized to put an end to the drug abuse.
A young woman risks not only her own life but the lives of her present and future children, if she is abusing alcohol, opiates or other drugs. Getting her effective rehabilitation is a way of improving all these lives, and eliminating the chance of addiction in newborns.
Becky Winslow is a freelance writer and consultant for Narconon where her primary goal is to educate young adults of the effects of drug and alcohol abuse. Winslow has been clean for three years now and believes writing to be her anti-drug.
Tags: drug addiction
Celeste Holm Stephen Covey klimt bastille day breaking bad breaking bad food network star
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.