Effects of cocaine use by birth mother during pregnancy

[Misszoe]

Please don’t judge. I’m have been taking cocaine whiteout know I was pregnant I have been in contraceptive and my periods have been stopped by pills. I was in emergency department because I had bad temperature and infection there dr said that I was pregnant 18 weeks . I’m going crazy I don’t know what to do I’m afraid I have damaged my beby . I have been doing cocaine heavily 2/3 times a week . The scan didn’t show any problem. I’m thinking for abortion. But I can’t do that . Do you know any case that beby turn out fine or did that had problems. Thnx

No personal experience OP, and I'm not a health professional, but I do know that the fears about "crack babies" have been proven to be mostly unfounded. Lots of articles about the long term effects are out there.

Hi Misszoe, Two things you can do straight away: stop taking cocaine now and, if necessary, get help. My grandchild was born dependent on class A drugs, including crack cocaine. Birth mother took drugs throughout pregnancy and refused help on a withdrawal programme. Baby was born heavily drug dependent and had to go through treatment for several months. Baby went straight into foster care and was placed for adoption with my daughter and son in law when aged 12 months. The little one is now at school and is doing great. No learning difficulties or physical difficulties, quite the opposite. But there is certainly anxiety and possibly hyper vigilance as a result of the drug dependency.

If you stop the drugs now, you’ll be doing the very best thing for your baby. I hope all goes well for you xx

My son had drug exposure to cocaine, methodome, cannabis and a variety of pills.
He had neonatal abstinence syndrome when he was born. Essentially he had to go through withdrawal and be weened off opiates. The first few months of his life were tough. He's four now. Hitting all of his milestones. An outgoing happy little soul. Not sure how he'll cope in school as he seems to struggle with contrentrating and is very hyperactive. But who knows if that's the drugs or just normal for his age.
Seek support to stop the drugs for you and your baby.

My youngest was born addicted, her birth mother used drugs throughout her pregnancy. She had to go through neonatal withdrawal and developed a seizure disorder which will be life long.
She's also smart, determined and wonderful beyond words.
Please do stop using immediately and seek as much help as you need. Be honest and open with health care professionals, they can and will help you and your baby.
I wish you all the best and hope things work out well. Take care of yourself.

The only thing I would add to what others have said is that there are many factors which could impact on your babies outcome so its often difficult to say that X was caused by Z
If you are taking drugs are you also drinking, smoking,not eating well ?
All of these things can impact your baby.
But also remember that even if your baby is effected in some way, that's not the whole story.
Why son has been impacted by many of the things I've mentioned. There are things which will affect his whole life.
He is also funny, charming and has a smile which lights up the room. At 16 he is at college and has a Saturday job. He is popular and has many friends.
Be honest with yourself and the medical people and take any support that is offered

Thanks to everyone for you answeres . I have stopped since I found out . I didn’t use alcohol or any another drugs . I will go again to do scan in private clinics to check again. There are left 20 other weeks will my beby show withdraw problem when she is born if they are 20 weeks eating health and living healthy lifestyle?

Honestly I don't know, it depends on so many factors and the consequences of drug use and FAAD etc are still poorly understood.
I would advise you speak to your doctor and midwife and be very honest and open. They can and will help you and the more information they have the better placed they are to do this.
Your distress is obvious but please try to be kind to yourself.
Have they told you to start taking any vitamins etc? A healthy lifestyle from now on I'm sure will help you both.

@Misszoe firstly, you did not know and this is not your fault. I'm glad you have felt able to stop use and have not been consuming alcohol or other drugs.

The impact of drugs is not well understood but cocaine is certainly not associated with 'withdrawal' after birth (neonatal abstinence syndrome is largely cause by opiates like heroin) and is not associated with any large birth defects. It has been associated a bit with lower birth weight. I would recommend you continue not to take it as it can have effects on you and babys health if you keep taking it across a pregnancy.

Hopefully at your 20 week scan they will be able to do a thorough check on the baby. How do you feel about being pregnant? I hope you are okay x

My sons birth mother was a drug user during pregnancy. He was premature and was a sickly baby but he's healthy as a horse now at 17.
The worst drug to take during lregnsn6is alcohol.
In saying that please stop taking drugs and get yourself some good prenatal care.

Pregnancy was the word i was going for

I had a good look at the evidence on cocaine use (for obvious reasons) when we got DD1. It's surprisingly positive with little evidence that the cocaine itself (as opposed to alcohol, heroin and stress, which often go with it) does any big long term damage.

Anything causing a poor in-utero environment is to be avoided but be kind to yourself OP and look after the baby from now on. This won't be the last time you fuck up as a paren- we are all just doing our best.

Was your baby okay when he was born? Did everything go okay in pregnancy