Treatment For Babies Born Addicted To Drugs

Sometimes methadone and other medications are used but doctors try to use as little meds as possible.

Treatment for babies born addicted to drugs.

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. Babies addicted to drugs by the numbers. Babies exposed to drugs in utero may experience developmental consequences including impaired growth birth defects and altered brain development. A baby born addicted to drugs may experience delays in learning from rolling over to crawling to walking and later on in school.

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. When the infant feels better the medication can be stopped without tapering. 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. 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.

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. Prenatal drug exposure may impact the child s behavior language cognition and achievement long term. 102 103 recent evidence however suggests that buprenorphine may be an even better treatment option. 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.

Florida is reporting the highest numbers of addicted babies. In 2010 1 374 babies were born addicted to drugs because their mothers were users a 42 percent increase from the year prior 1. The number of babies born addicted to drugs has tripled in the last decade. In most cases this medication is only needed for a few days.

However 55 to 94 of babies prenatally exposed to opioids that includes the maintenance drugs methadone and buprenorphine will experience at least some withdrawal symptoms after birth.