Drug addiction is often associated with adults and sometimes teenagers dealing with some form of problem or another. However, according to in a Mama Mia report, newborns are now becoming addicts, too, and their numbers are on the rise.
According to a Perth Now report, “the number of babies born with drug addiction is soaring, with Western Australia’s specialized withdrawal clinic for babies recording the highest number in six years.”
In fact in Western Australia alone, the number of infants treated for drug withdrawal symptoms has risen to 125 cases compared to 98 in the previous years, says the Department of Health.
“Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome is a generalised disorder presenting a clinical picture of drug withdrawal in the infant,” said the guidelines of the King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEMH).
The withdrawal symptoms are caused by a variety of drugs such as opiates, cocaine and derivatives, amphetamines, and alcohol used by mothers.
The KEMH guidelines state: “With less certainty, abnormal neurobehavioral patterns have also been reported in newborn infants of mothers with high intakes of marijuana, volatile substances, caffeine and the new SSRI antidepressants.”
Some of the symptoms babies exhibit include tremors, high pitched crying, irritability, sleep disturbance, sweating, vomiting and excessive sucking.
The Child Protection Department also noted that there has been a rise in the numbers of newborns taken into their care; there have been over a hundred cases just last year.
“The thought of a mother being separated from her baby at birth is just horrific,” said Sally Kirk from the Child Protection Department, “but when we have a drug-addicted mother or mental health and housing and violence issues, we have to keep the baby safe.”
Meanwhile, said the Mama Mia report, there are in the United states baby cuddle programs across the country to help newborns suffering from withdrawals.
According to a Today report, cuddling helped cut a baby’s hospital stay in Virginia almost in half—from 40 days to 21. Babies in withdrawal who are held regularly seem to need less medication and go home sooner than those who are not, said Chief Nursing Officer Maribeth McLaughlin.
“They are very irritable; they are hard to console,” she said. “This is about swaddling them and giving them that comfort and safe, secure feeling.”
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