Drugs and alcohol found out pregnant

[Hi12345]

I have been taking cocaine and alcohol recreationally on weekends and found out I am 22 weeks pregnant. I have stopped and will not touch either again the rest of the pregnancy, is there a chance my baby would be born with the drug in their system/withdrawals?

I don't think there is any chance the baby would be born with withdrawals but I do wonder if there is a chance it could have affected development. Can you speak to a doctor/midwife?

I'd speak to your mw if you can. Like the pp, I would think it would be unlikely that your baby would be born with withdrawal symptoms after recreational drug use at weekends and at the beginning of pregnancy. There could be some other side effects though, so I'd definitely want to get it checked out.

Talk to your midwife.

Cocaine doesn't cause physical dependence but it does affect babies. Alcohol can be worse. Unfortunately it's a lottery. I've worked with women who used heavily and their babies were fine. And some that weren't.

Some studies have shown that reducing the stresses around drugs and alcohol use (sex work, stress, abusive relationships) has a good effect as well. So look after yourself.

All you can do is speak to your midwife and ask if there are any tests / support you can access I think.

There is some bad news but also lots of good news. Firstly the bad news is that any cocaine use or alcohol use in pregnancy can cause the baby to develop issues in the womb. But there is heaps of good news in that if you stay clean and sober from here on in, your baby will not be born with drugs in its system. It should be a healthy weight as you still have a long time left. You were also only using and drinking at weekends, this is so much better than daily use as well. Do you smoke? And how is your diet? There may be other things you are doing which will give your baby an ever better start. I would be honest with your midwife too, as they will probably want you to see the obstetrician and have extra scans. They may choose to inform social services, but this doesn't have to be a bad thing either. Engage with everyone, get all the good healthcare and support you can. I hope that it all works out for you, and in a few short months baby will be in your arms, happy, healthy and you both be drug and drink free

@Hi12345
How did your baby turn out? I am in a similar situation but I only had 2-3 binges in total but still very worried.

When your baby was born was he/she ok?

My baby is only 3 weeks old but I'm not concerned at the moment, hopefully she will be okay

Aw that’s great. Did they do any tests when she was born or was everything just ok with her