Drugs and alcohol, 18 weeks pregnant, just found out.

[Tracey26]

I have been recreationally taking Cocaine and drinking heavily and smoking every weekend and just found out i am 18 weeks pregnant. I have booked an abortion for next Wednesday because I am absolutely petrified I have harmed my child. My heart is breaking and I feel absolutely helpless. I have had a scan and everything looks as it should but I don't believe in my heart that I could have done all of that every weekend and not harmed my baby. I'm just looking for advice, I am absolutely in bits, please No one make me feel any worse than I already do.

Sending love and hugs and best wishes for u and ur baby girl . Xoxox

This thread has made me cry! I’m so happy you decided to continue with the pregnancy. Good luck xxx

Congratulations! Look after yourself eh?

Hi, congratulations, but I was just wondering how did you not know you were 18 weeks pregnant?x

That's great try and not worry anymore and concentrate on the baby and staying healthy

crl200

The OP said irregular periods. Also, lots of people have no bump until past 6 months (even thou mine was huge at 2 )

crl200 I didn't know I was pregnant with my first (until I miscarried) as I was still getting periods as normal. It does happen.

Congrats op, I'm sure she'll be absolutely fine.

Best wishes for the future for you and your baby

I drank heavily (to the point of being sick one night) and did a bit of recreational drugs before i found out I was pregnant at 5/6 weeks, and I now have a healthy happy 5 week old son. I was so angry with myself and really beat myself up about it like you have, but I did a lot of research into this at the time. Many people don't find out they are pregnant until they miss a period, by which time they have continued drinking as normal - it's so common, and many babies are conceived after messy nights out! Healthcare professionals would not advise women to abort on this basis, and its highly unlikely you will do serious permanent damage to your baby at such an early stage - the danger is more drinking and drug-taking excessively throughout your pregnancy which can lead to abnormalities and foetal alcohol syndrome etc. At the beginning apparently it's 'all or nothing' - i.e. either your drinking and drug-taking will cause loss of pregnancy at that early stage or it doesn't, in which case just avoid alcohol and drugs for the rest of your pregnancy. Heroin addicts often go on to have healthy (if addicted) babies, and your situation is so much more common than you think. Stop beating yourself up now, look after yourself and look forward to the future - and enjoy your pregnancy! x

I was on medication where they insist you use contraception as it does cause abnormalities in the development of the foetus.

The anomaly scan was horrible, they went out to get someone else, at that point I thought, "this is it, this is where they tell me the extent of the damage I caused my baby,"

They said everything was normal, I still didn't believe them.

I cried and cried, I was so worried, but DC is sitting in front of me right now reading a book.

So happy to hear that op!
Congratulations on your pregnancy xx

Sorry, this is my first ever post on here so I have no idea how or if you can reply individually. I had a coil in for 5 years, then had irregular bleeds, the doctor said this was normal because my hormones were starting to settle etc.. Was booked in for another coil and used protection with my partner except from one drunken night and here we are! Starting to feel a little better after reading everyone's experiences, trying to be as healthy as I can possibly be and literally just praying everything is okay! My little girl is so active which makes me feel better but I have Placenta Previa or something and when I Googled it it said it could be a result of cocaine use, so now I'm thinking if it's affected the placenta what has it done to baby. Just absolutely hate myself xxx

Please don’t hate yourself.
Good luck with your baby girl ❤️

Placenta Previa is very common, affecting 1 in every 200 women. I highly doubt this has anything to do with drug use, don’t worry!

Hey, I have had placenta previa in my 1st and now current pregnancy and I have never ever done drugs and don't drink so this can happen to anyone. Don't beat yourself up.

You just need to be a little more careful, no sex, no going into busy crowds where you could get knocked.

You'll have another scan at 34 weeks to see if the placenta has moved up (more than likely).

Honestly, babies are tougher than you think. Good luck for the remainder of your pregnancy.

I had placenta previa with my first and have never touched cocaine - it’s a TINY increase in incidence if you have so the chances are it’s just one of those things.

PP can be dangerous but as long as they know about it, you should be OK - the disaster scenarios you will see on google searches occur when it hasn’t been picked up and women arrive in labour and bleeding. They have picked it up and so you should be absolutely fine.

You’ll have another couple of scans, if it’s not cleared the OS they will give you a c section, and they will tailor advice on bed rest if needed to your personal circumstances. I was lucky, no bleeding during pregnancy, had a section at 38 weeks and while I lost a lot of blood during that, baby was fine and so was I.

Hi can you please tell me what happen I’m in same situation. Did the baby come out healthy did he have any problem . Please help me with an answer?

Hi @Misszoe. I'm not the op.. its such an old thread that they might not reply but in case it helps..

My sister in law had a very simular life style.. drugs drink every weekend without fail smoked.. didn't realise she was pregnant until 25 weeks - didn't show, still had periods etc. That baby is now a healthy 5 year old. She was perfectly fine when she was born no issues at all. My SIL stopped everything immediately and tried to be healthier as soon as she found out.

I’m worried about to die how my baby will be , the guilt it’s killing me . Did baby show sings of withdraws any Social service involved. I can stop reading in google different things I’m scared I didn’t drink alcohol just cocaine I was taking birth control and periods stoped . I did know till 20 weeks I still don’t show any belly but scan and doctor said everything looks fine .

Hi am so worried found out 17 weeks pregnant and been drinking and doing ccocain am so worried and scared that I've hurt the baby please don't be judgmental

Read all the posts on this thread showing how it's most likely your baby is fine.
Immediately stop with the alcohol and drugs.

Get in touch with your GP immediately for referrals to midwives and for scans.

Anymore updates on this?
I had cocaine twice and couple of drinks before 22 weeks and very worried.
Everything is healthy at scan, but keep reading stuff about still birth so worried.
I would all to know if there anything you can be healthy going forward and cleanse the body..
Will the coacine show when the baby is born.

Just found out I am pregnant after coming off an all inclusive holiday where I drank everyday (but didn't get drunk but steadily drank) and went on waterslides etc. I am booked in for a 16 week scan in 2 weeks. I am pretty worried that my holiday activities (and more importantly the daily drinking) will have caused some damage. I've never been pregnant before and I'm mid 30s. I'm looking for any tips, advice, or anyone who has been in a similar situation please. Thanks in advance x

@Tracey26 how did your baby turn out? I am in a similar position but only with alcohol not cocaine. I found out week 25 and had a couple of binges in 2nd trimester where I drank just over a bottle of wine each time and I'm very worried.