Effects of drug use by birth mother during pregnancy

[itsallabouttobegin]

Can anybody point me in the right direction for the latest research into the effects of drug use during pregnancy? We are looking at a child's CPR and would like to understand more about the future risks/uncertainties for a little one who has been exposed to heavy cocaine and cannabis use in uetro.

Thanks

Generally speaking, drug abuse is much less of a problem than alcohol abuse. Some children whose mothers used cocaine or cannabis during the pregnancy score lower on IQ, executive functioning skills and more of them have ADHD. However, these results are very unreliable, because the mothers often also smoke cigarettes and drink and undereport this. Poverty seems to be much more of a determining factor for outcomes.

Most women who are addicted to drugs are multi-drug users, which means they might generally use cocaine, nicotine and alcohol but use whatever is available to them when their drug of choice is unavailable.

Research:
www.philly.com/philly/health/20130721__Crack_baby__study_ends_with_unexpected_but_clear_result.html
atlantablackstar.com/2015/03/26/7-declarations-about-crack-babies-that-were-flat-out-wrong/3/

This is a podcast from 2013, but will still have relevant information:
creatingafamily.org/adoption-category/long-term-effects-of-prenatal-alcohol-and-drug-exposure/

This is another podcast from 2016:
creatingafamily.org/adoption-category/5-surprising-facts-prenatal-opiate-exposure/

On a personal note: Our daughter was born addicted to heroin. She is 12 now, healthy with lots of friends and doing very well in school. If your child is lucky, they will have no after effects.

Before my grandchild was placed 3 years ago, my daughter and son in law did loads of Internet research on this. Most of what they found came from the U.S. and there was little that seemed conclusive. Most said that there was a likelihood of learning difficulties and possibly a tendency towards addictive behaviour later. But really, not much research is available. What there is seldom separates out the children moved on to adoptive families and those who stay with their birth families. But environment can have a big impact and that needs to be measured. My grandchild is now 4 years old, very bright indeed, no learning difficulties or anything else yet apparent, just some anxiety which needs strategies to deal with it. BM was a heavy user of crack cocaine, heroin, and just about everything going. It's a gamble that my daughter and son in law took but so far, all is going very well.

Thanks both. I'll take a look at all of those links. You've confirmed my understanding from everything I've read up to now but I'd like to be able to provide my husband with some more info as I think he feels much more unsure about this than I do x

As pp have said it’s hard to pinpoint any concrete results through research. Anecdotally, DS1 was born addicted to heroin (he was quite unwell) and is now 7 - bright and healthy boy. DS2 was born with cocaine in his system and again, although only 3.5 - seems robust and bang on where he should be. We’ve had both boys since babies so it was a risk to see how it all panned out. Thankfully great, thus far! Good luck in what you decide

Hello, we were in a similar position in January. We were presented with a profile of a 7 month old little girl who's BM had been a consistent user of Class A substances throughout the pregnancy and was showing signs of withdrawal at birth.

We found it very helpful speaking to her medical advisor before we went to matching panel. We were told that these substances reach the baby during pregnancy and are likely to have some subtle effects on her behaviour, concentration, learning and language skills later on in childhood. We asked the same question as you in terms of research, but we were advised not to preempt what could happen, just enjoy her. Providing her with a nurturing, loving and emotionally supportive home may be all she needs.

She was placed with us 3 weeks ago
Best of luck x

Just to add to soundofstars post, the medical advisor said very similar about my grandchild before placement. But LO has defied all expectations; language development is way ahead, concentration, memory, learning ability, social skills all doing great at 4 years old. This is a child who suffered quite severe neonatal abstinence syndrome at birth and was in hospital and on medication for a good while afterwards. I suspect that the medical advisors err on the side of caution because so little is really known.

I think a pp is right that environment in the early years makes a huge difference.

The brain is only something like twenty percent wired up at birth and eighty percent wired up at age three, and in that period of the brain developing you have the "windows of opportunity" for learning, so the stimulation and neuro related therapeutic work in those years is going to make a difference.

Medical advisors tend to be very negative, which is a good thing, because they don't sugarcoat things and prepare you for the worst.

However, studies show there are children with no discernible effects on IQ etc. Our daughter had to be transferred after birth to a special unit in a different hospital. She was really quite unwell. I don't think she has any effects from the heroin. She is at the top of her class, popular and happy. She suffered abuse and neglect and was taken into care after age 3 and there are effects from the trauma, but they have nothing to do with the drug abuse.