Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Catherine Saint Louis is a writer who is constantly writing about issues in health. This article is titled Pregnant Women Turn to Marijuana, Perhaps Harming Infants, published on February 2, 2017. It tells a story about a young women named Stacey who is smoking marijuana while pregnant. Catherine’s purpose in this article is to spread awareness to the world bringing the dramatic issue of destroying infants little by little that have not yet been born. This is a big issue and women don’t seem to understand it.

To combat recidivism, “the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) worked together to develop the first ASAM Patient Placement Criteria.” (Belenko & Peugh, 2004) ASAM gave guidelines for patient placement of five treatment setting (early intervention to intensive inpatient treatment). Despite the popularity of this program, little evidence is known of the validity in term of treatments. Despite enrolling in these programs, success rates still suffer based on outside forces such as “educational deficits and sporadic work histories, which can affect long-term recovery and complicate the transition back to the community.” (Belenko & Peugh, 2004)

There has been an astounding increase in the use of illegal drugs during pregnancy, therefore increasing the number of babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. Just a few short years ago, the babies who suffered through Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome were treated with drug therapy with medications such as Methadone, Morphine, or Clonidine in the neonatal intensive care unit. However, the prevalence of drug use in pregnancy and in turn neonatal abstinence syndrome has caused the newborn nursery to turn into a drug rehabilitation center for these babies. Several issues arise with the obstetrical healthcare team when taking care of these patients, such as a negative personal bias resulting from the negative stigma of drug use especially during

This is because detoxification places your unborn child at risk and can even cause their death when not done properly. Doctors specially trained in helping opiate addicted females get clean have access to opioid replacement medications. They 'll use things such as methadone to help you get clean without harming your unborn baby. Unfortunately, relapse rates still remain high. Seeking help for you and your unborn child is only the first step down a long road of living without self-medicating yourself.

Underlying Causes: The increase in the sale of opioids is considered to be the root of the opioid crisis, as the drugs have been proven to be highly addictive. An addiction to prescriptive opioids, however, can lead to an addiction to synthetic, illegal opioids, such as heroine or fentanyl, which are less expensive and easier to acquire. In fact, in their journal article, “Associations of nonmedical pain reliever use and initiation of heroin use in the United States” Pradip Muhuri and associates discovered that “the recent (12 months preceding interview) heroin incidence rate was 19 times higher among those who reported prior nonmedical prescription pain reliever (NMPR) use than among those who did not (0.39 vs. 0.02 percent)” (Muhuri et. al). In other words, abusing prescription opioids significantly raises the chances of abusing illicit drugs, such as heroin.

Also, diseases like Hepatitis C, common to intravenous drug users can be passed from mother to child. There are three places in the whole state that will take pregnant women and children. There is an outpatient center in Beckley, it only has 12 beds. Chaffin stated “rapid onset of withdrawal can lead to compromise of the baby through fetal distress and getting clean before giving birth will not guarantee that the infant is no longer addicted to the

Opioids Today Undoubtedly, the addictive nature of opioids has generated immense controversy in both the medical community and population of the United States. During the last decade, the increase of people addicted to opioids has grown steadily, among them; you can find ordinary people but celebrities, athletes and soldiers thus charging many lives in their path. Despite this, it was not until after several months of political pressure that the current president of the United States, Donald Trump, declared in the middle of 2017 those opioids are responsible of a health crisis in America. The history of the nation shows that with the passage of time, similar crises have appeared that are now experienced, but that despite this, they have not

Opioids have become an increasing problem in the United States throughout the recent years. According to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in September there were more adults using prescription pain killers than cigarettes and cigars combined (Katel). Massachusetts also attributed opioids to 1,379 deaths in the past year (Katel). An issue this vast and deadly requires an unorthodox method in attempt to restrain it. Though seemingly contrary to the task at hand, safe injection sites could possibly be the method that saves thousands of American lives.

In treatment the abuser is taught to break the old patterns of thinking and to learn new skills for avoiding drug use. Offenders with a sever drug problem will need more intense treatment (example, Minimum of 3 month). To start treatment the offender will need

One of America’s rapid growing problems today is crack babies. When you use the term or even hear the term crack babies, you think that the baby have been put on the drug or is even doing it themselves. But as a child, they have no say so or way of determining if they are a crack baby or not. So many pregnant women do drugs every day and the number is just increasing by the hour, it’s absolutely ridiculous. All mother have so much say so in their child’s life.

Which is not surprising because neonatal abstinence syndrome stems from drug use during pregnancy (Su 2012). In all three cases the infants exhibited early signs of neonatal abstinence syndrome. Some of the symptoms seen were tachypnea, inability to suckle properly, and cerebral dysfunction. These are the trademark symptoms for neonatal abstinence syndrome. The low birth rate was another indicator of a complicated pregnancy.

If people know about all the problems that are attached to infant exposure to drugs and alcohol they would be less likely to be using during pregnancy. If a newborn was prenatally exposed to drugs, alcohol, or a non-prescribed controlled substance there is a high risk of abuse or neglect (Parental Drug Use). If people understood statistics like that they would be so much less likely to start an addiction that could grow out of control and affect their lives later. More than sixty percent of children in the foster system are there because of parental drug abuse (Bever and Stein 1). This statistic shows how many children are affected by parental drug abuse and that eliminating the problem of parental drug abuse would decrease the growing number of foster

The major problem with opioid painkillers is they can and will cause addiction, but they are extremely effective in alleviating pain; consequently, they have put America in a state of extreme crisis. More Americans died of drug overdoses in 2016 than Americans that died in the entirety of the Vietnam War (Lopez). It’s calculated that fifty nine thousand to sixty five thousand people died of overdoses in 2016, with a likely, but not perfect number of sixty two thousand. This tragic epidemic could be slowed or even fixed by the use of marijuana as a painkiller; according to a study funded by the National Institute On Drug Abuse or NIDA there is a connection between the legalization of medical and the decrease of deaths caused by opioid overdose. (NIDA).

A recurring problem of epic proportions in my community is the opioid crisis. I am deeply saddened watching and hearing stories of how this epidemic is destroying both individuals and families on a daily basis. I have seen the destruction first hand in my high school which inspired me to join SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions). I have both counselled and consoled my fellow students inspiring them to get help and, equally important, caring for them during their

is not safe for the developing fetus or the mother.” This is, to most people, common knowledge: drugs and pregnancy do not mix. Although many still do not know the true face of illegal drug use while in prenatal care. Due to many cases of use, we, as a community, have come to