Do you ever wonder what a child’s life is like after being born into drug addiction? It is important for all Americans to be aware of what goes on behind the scenes of a drug-exposed newborn. Babies born to drug addicts cost society a great deal of money as soon as they are born because they suffer from illnesses and learning disabilities, so there should be greater penalties for drug abusing mothers. The first main topic is how dangerous it is for a mother to take drugs during pregnancy, and the consequences it has.
It is dangerous for a mother to take drugs during pregnancy because the baby can be born addicted, and start having withdrawals. The illegal substances that feeds a mother’s addiction, also feeds the baby’s (4). Due to this, the
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The influence of drugs could even affect their DNA (3). This means that a baby’s genes could be completely altered because of a mother’s substance consumption. Studies display some behavioral and typical cognitive concern over the spectrum of substance types (5). It does not matter what illicit substance a mother uses, as soon as she consumes it the baby has a chance of having disabilities. A new study shows that 30 to 40 percent of three year olds unsheltered from drugs indicate difficulties with controlling behavior, expressing needs and wants, and focusing (5). Due to drug exposure, children can’t complete simple everyday tasks. Preschool can be the biggest developmental stage for a child, and their learning is being affected because of their mother’s actions. Not only do drugs affect educational growth, but they also affect physical growth. A study by the University of Pittsburgh noted that children exposed to cocaine during the first trimester of pregnancy had slacking growth rates compared to the children who were unexposed (9). This is only one example of how a certain drug can have unique effects on the baby. The worst part of it all is if the child has birth defects, developmental problems, or organ damage, they may need surgical and long-term remedies (8). Overall, if a mother abuses illicit substances during pregnancy, her baby has a chance of …show more content…
The standard price to deliver a drug-exposed baby is $62,000, while on the other hand, a healthy child is delivered for $4,700 (6). This is a huge toll on society because taxpayers are using their hard earned money to pay for a mother’s terrible actions. During 2012, drug-exposed newborns resided in the hospital an average of 16.9 days, setting the hospitals back an estimated $1.5 billion (7). If the parent has commercial or state funded insurance, the hospital should not have to eat the expense of taking care of the child. It should be written that the parent is obligated to pay any additional expense for a hospital stay longer than what is normal for a healthy child. The bulk of this cost is compensated by Medicaid businesses (7). The way this works, is taxpayers’ pay through their payroll taxes, through each county. Even though Medicaid is technically paying, it’s taxpayers’ money they are using. These costs aren’t permanent either, and they’re currently on the rise. The price for treating drug-exposed newborns increased from $1.1 million at the beginning to $1.5 million in the succeeding year, and $1.8 million in the third year (2). The more the prices rise, the more taxpayers’ money is being used. In the end, if less babies were being born drug-exposed, taxpayers’ could be saving money. It is so important that people understand how much money they’re putting in to pay for these babies, and that they shouldn’t
The Cocaine Kids and Dorm Room Dealers are two very different, but yet similar books. Cocaine Kids are about a group of kids, primarily of Hispanic race, with one kid of the Black race. The kids were raised in the inner city of New York. Dorm Room Dealers are about White, middle to upper-middle class college students, who was selling drugs for their status. The purpose of this paper is to prove that there are racial disparities among drug users. There will be examples from the texts that show the different takes on the drug markets and how race plays a factor. There also will be how these experiences shape the kids drug dealing and using. The paper will conclude how all the kids either remained in the drug career or left the drug career.
NAS has turned into an epidemic espicially in the state of Tennessee a little more than 320 babies were born with NAS in 2013. Tennessee was the first state to start keeping track of the number of cases of NAS. NAS occurs when pregnant women take drugs such as heroin, codeine, oxycodone, methadone, or buprenorphine (“Babies are being born addicted to drugs”). This happens when the substances pass through the placenta that connects the baby to its mother. Then the baby becomes dependent on the drug like the mother. Hospitals began treating these cases with morphine, by administering a dosage of morphine every few hours as needed and reducing the dosage until the baby was better. During this process doctors need to keep a look out for the babies since the morphine can cause them to stop breathing. A baby born with NAS usually suffers from low birth weight and respiratory problems. Heroin and cocaine are some of the most common drugs being abused, and they both have short and long term effects other than withdrawal symptoms: Such as ph...
“Crack-babies” a media induced phenomena brought about by the climax of public outcry from the results of the 1980’s war on drugs. This term laid the foundation for biased prosecutions which sparked a political crusade during climate of the time. Thus exploiting the public’s fear of children born to substance addicted mother and creating a firestorm of litigation to prosecute pregnant drug addicts. According to Flavin, Paltrow (2010), current evidence points to public stigmas and prejudice as posing a greater danger to both maternal and fetal health than use of the drug itself. Leaving the question as to why addicted women are still publicly reviled for the outcomes of their circumstances. From this abhorrence stems the likelihood that these women would be deterred from seeking prenatal care than to seek help for their addiction; expelling an even greater issue as the concern of health care is then added to the mix. The complex social issues then must be taken into consideration to underscore the need for policymakers to allow for the legal and medical systems to better create programs for these women and allot for rehabilitation instead of punitive solutions.
The author also believes that the Medicaid expansion extends beyond the politics, and has an aim to impact the life, health, and financial stability for the state and individuals. Medicaid expansion can be beneficial to many countries that have a large proportion of low-income people that are uninsured and or with disabilities. This can aid in saving the state money because much of the cost is provided and covered by the federal government, that encourages healthier behavior and results to a reduction in chronic disease due to lower health care costs. Although Texas opted out in adopting the expansion, legislators should decide on the advantage and disadvantage of participating in the Medicaid expansion to improve the welfare of the state. The expansion of Medicaid coverage will give low-income pregnant women the chance to reduce the rate in infant mortality and provide an opportunity for those that were unable to get coverage to be
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is a group of problems a newborn experiences when exposed to addictive drugs that the mother consumes during pregnancy. NAS is a growing concern in the United States and can have significant adverse effects on newborns. Shortly after birth, the infant can display many physical symptoms of withdrawal. In addition, substance abuse during pregnancy can cause premature birth, low birth weight, seizures, birth defects, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and possible long-term cognitive and behavioral problems. The 2010 results from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings reported incidence of substance abuse among pregnant women within the United States....
Just as drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and crystal meth affect the mother, it also affects the child. Babies that are born to drug using mothers are called “drug babies” and just like their mother they become addicted to the drugs causing behavior problems during their childhood. They can also have birth defects, premature birth, and are usually underweight. Babies that are born to cocaine using mothers are called “crack babies” and they face the risk of a stroke leading to brain damage. Teratogenic medications such as some antibiotics, cancer fighting medicines, blood thinners, and acne fighting medicines such as Accutane can all cause birth
In recent years’ health reform has been a driving force in the United States political system. If you watch the news you will undoughtabley hear how citizens, the government, or the economy is or might be effected by some sort of change in medical regulation. One of these hot topic issues is the cost of prescription drugs. Every major drug market besides the United States regulates the price of drugs in some way (Abbott and Vernon). By the United states not doing so many believes it opens consumers up to be exploited by large pharmaceuticals companies. Other believe regulating drug prices limits investment, innovation, and competition in the pharmaceutical industry. In many ways both views are correct yet the later may have more long term lasting
One illicit drug that has gone through extensive research is cocaine. Prenatal cocaine exposure has shown to affect the baby physically (defects including eye, bone, genital, urinary tract, kidney, heart deformities, as well as brain hemorrhages) and cognitively (through mental delays, motor, attention, and language problems) (Berk, 2003). Cocaine affects the child subtly but significantly because of what the drug does to the body of both the mother and the growing fetus.
Substance addiction is becoming an epidemic. While some people can quit using a substance without any help, most people need help to their recovery. Narcotics anonymous is an important support group for our society. There are many different narcotic anonymous programs to join that have meetings throughout the week. The members of the support group all share one thing in common, they suffer from different types of chemical dependency. Members help each other because they have the same problems and worries that everyone in the room has. Though they may be struggling with different stages in their life, for the most part, they all relate to what each is going through. Just as AA, NA focuses on the 12-step program. The members of
Drugs cause an overall disturbance in a subjects’ physiological, psychological and emotional health. “At the individual level, drug abuse creates health hazards for the user, affecting the educational and general development of youths in particular” (“Fresh Challenge”). In youth specifically, drug abuse can be triggered by factors such as: a parent’s abusive behavior, poor social skills, family history of alcoholism or substance abuse, the divorce of parents or guardians, poverty, the death of a loved one, or even because they are being bullied at school (“Drugs, brains, and behavior”) .
The drug control policy of the United States has always been a subject of debate. From Prohibition in the early 1930’s to the current debate over the legalization of marijuana, drugs have always been near the top of the government’s agenda. Drug use affects every part of our society. It strains our economy, our healthcare, our criminal justice systems, and it endangers the futures of young people. In order to support a public health approach to drug control, the Obama administration has committed over $10 billion to drug education programs and support for expanding access to drug treatment for addicts (Office). The United States should commit more government resources to protect against illegal use of drugs by youths and provide help for recovering addicts.
The addicted individuals need to be aware of the services that are available for them and their children during and after their addictive stages. The abuse that some of these children endure can start at the earliest stages of their lives. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome begins to effect the child while it is still in its mother’s womb. This disease not only effects the child physically, but emotionally and intellectually. Many parents continue to abuse substances while they are knowingly pregnant.
People always think that nothing bad would ever happen to them, or that they would never make the same mistakes as other mothers. The fact of the matter is it can happen to anyone and it will happen if people are not careful. 21 % of women use illegal drugs and alcohol during the nine months of pregnancy. Whether it is just one drink or one hit or this is an everyday occurrence; it can affect the baby mentally and physically for the rest of its life.
Chambers, C. D., Polifka, J. E., & Friedman, J. M. (2008). Drug safety in pregnant women and their babies: ignorance not bliss. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 83(1), 181-183.
Another tragic and very important issue ate the " Crack Babies". A crack baby is a child born to a mother who was smoking crack during her pregnancy and up until the time of birth. The infant is addicted at birth, suffers withdrawal agonies, and continues to suffer from developmental abnormalities. These tragedies occur at too high a rate no matter how many there are… The 1991 Household Survey data estimated that about 280,000 women of all ages might have used crack at some time during the year.