Social Justice and Pregnant Addicted Mothers Once a woman finds out that she is expecting a child, there are many things that are expected of her. She is expected to go to a plethora of appointments, eat healthier, exercise and stay fit, and educate herself on how her life will drastically change and adjust within the upcoming months. What no one expects however is for a mother to be is addicted to drugs. Addiction affects many, young and old, from all walks of life. The reality is that addiction while pregnant can be affected by many social injustices including race, gender, legal policies, and poverty. For the purposes of this paper, this writer will discuss the social injustices associated with socioeconomic status and addicted mothers, …show more content…
(2011), women make up 6.9 percent of drug addicts. It’s unclear however why some hospitals test mothers for drugs prior to their delivery while some test all mothers regardless of their appearance and behavior; depending on the neighborhood a woman receives care in, she may not get tested at all. Engaging in drug use while pregnant affects both the mother and her unborn child. There are many risks to drug use while pregnant which can range from miscarriage of the child to death to either or both the mother and child. Neonatal morbidity was 88 percent for newborns from drug addicted mothers and 34 percent for the ones from investigated pregnancies (Broscauncianu, Stoicescu, Banceanu, & Cabat, 2014). Any drug use, whether it is alcohol, marijuana, opiates, or heroin can make a pregnancy high risk and can increase the risk of the child being born prematurely, having low birth weight, having cognitive or developmental delays, or suffer from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) during their first year of life. SIDS or crib death is the sudden death of an infant usually without reason or cause. It’s been known to transpire while the infant is sleep, and can appear to be a healthy baby less than a year old. The cause of SIDS is said to be unknown however various risks factors have been associated with or correlated with an infant dying from SIDS. Alcohol and drug abuse while pregnant has been widely accredited to cause an infant to transpire from SIDS. …show more content…
There are many drawbacks to a substance use while pregnant that directly influence the development and wellbeing of a child, each substance has a different effect and severity. Before a child is born they are at risk of a miscarriage, stillbirth, fetal demise, low birth weight, and congenital anomalies just to name a few. If the child survives the pregnancy, he or she is at risk for acquiring fetal alcohol syndrome if the mother was addicted to alcohol, sudden infant death if the mother smoked while pregnant. Microcephaly and other growth development challenges has been linked to children whose mother had an opioid addiction while pregnant, cognitive and respiratory issues such as asthma or bronchitis are also commonly observed in children whom are a product of an addicted mother. The worst impact the substance misuse can have on the infant however, is a dysfunctional relationship with their primary caregiver, the
Drug and alcohol use in pregnancy poses a threat to the neonate’s development and the obstetric provider has an obligation to screen for substance use. Substance use in pregnancy can place the developing fetus at risk for in-utero opioid dependence, fetal-alcohol syndrome, preterm labor, and other consequences of maternal alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use.(6) Within the past three years La Crosse County has seen a marked increase in the amount of heroin use.(7)
Cook, Selig, Wedge, and Gohn-Baube (1999) stated that an essential part of the country’s public health agenda is to improve access to prenatal care, particularly for economically disadvantaged women. I agree with this statement because access to care is very important for the outcome of a healthy mother and child. Improving access to prenatal care for disadvantaged women will not only save lives but also lighten the high financial, social, and emotional costs of caring for low weight babies. Some of the barriers that these women face are mainly structural where the availability of care is limited; the cost of care is a financial burden; and the time to seek care is problematic due to being single mothers working more than one job (Lia-Hoagberb, 1990). Additionally, there is the issue of prenatal care being delivered differently depending on one’s race. A study found that White mothers delivering ve...
Some people argue that the drug users aren’t the heroin victims. One writer notes, 'The parents of the user who steals from them, abuses them, physically, emotionally and mentally, the siblings who suffer the loss of care and love but who also get abused and used by the user, the kids of the user who learn that the parent's desire for smack is greater than the desire to be a parent,' are the real heroin victims (Fitzgerald, 2000). This problem therefore effects not only the user but the society living around them as well.
The literature suggests that pregnancy is a motivating factor for obtaining substance treatment. Consequently, as a time of crisis, while as high as 50 % of women drop out of treatment, these women have a compelling reason to begin and sustain changes to afford them the opportunity to successfully parent their child by achieving and maintaining recovery. This formative evaluation utilized an experimental design with randomization of families to either a standard of care group or wraparound service provision in the Strong Start program. Pregnant women age 18-44 enrolling in a specialized substance treatment program were informed of the study. Randomization utilized minimization software to ensure the groups were balanced for key indicators such as court ordered to treatment, open child welfare case, or previous termination of parental rights.
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
... excluded potential risk factors for preterm birth including previous pregnancies and multiple births. Thus, these results should only be applied to the risk of alcohol consumption for primiparous mothers with singleton pregnancies. However, despite the lack of risks identified in this study, alcohol use during pregnancy has been linked to disabilities. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP, 2011), its adverse effects include fetal alcohol syndrome, learning disabilities, social ineptness, depression, and anxiety. The AACAP strongly recommends against pregnant women consuming any form of alcohol at any level. Despite the data presented by Dale et al. (2016), the question of the other risks of alcohol consumption on the fetus was not explored and thus alcohol use during pregnancy should not be condoned solely based on this study.
For the duration of prenatal development, the unborn offspring may be affected by a multiplicity of teratogens, which are different factors which can have negative effects on the fetus, and can even cause birth defects. While there are countless factors that can affect an unborn child, the most commonly seen teratogens that should be avoided by a pregnant woman including alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. The intake and ingestion of alcohol during pregnancy is the cause of a disorder which is fetal alcohol syndrome. Fetal alcohol syndrome can cause a birth defect which can cause mental and physical disabilities, as well as cardiac defects in the heart for some situations. Some people believe that small amounts of alcohol in moderation can be acceptable, but there are proven facts that show no alcohol should be consumed during any time of pregnancy. Another dangerous teratogen to refrain from is the use of drugs, prescription and illegal. Many kinds of prescription drugs can influence a fetus and can cause physical and
Handler, A., Kristin, N., Davis, F., & Ferre, C. (1991). Cocaine use during pregnancy: Perinatal outcome. American Journal of Epidemiology, 133, 818-825.
Development is a never ending cycle in life. Each person begins to develop from conception until passing away. Now, while most people think that development starts after birth that is incorrect. Development starts as soon as the baby is conceived. Everything that a woman carrying a baby does or takes place in will translate into the baby. The baby shares a blood flow with the mother. Drugs, even legal drugs, will go into the mother’s blood stream which will then go into the baby’s blood stream. The “maternal blood flows through the uterine arteries to the spaces housing the placenta, and it returns through the uterine vein to the maternal circulation” (Santrock, 2012, p. 80). This means that anything that enters into the blood stream will also affect the baby. Each type of drug is under a certain category. Psychoactive drugs are drugs that are constantly being studier. According to Santrock (2012), psychoactive drugs are drugs that act on the nervous system to alter states of consciousness, modify perception, and change moods. (p.83). They come in three categories: stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogens. Stimulants include caffeine, cocaine, methamphetamine and nicotine. Some people say that pregnant woman do not know what taking these into their system is doing to their baby. Stimulants are becoming more popular and there effects need to be studied and known. Each stimulant affects the baby in short-term and long-term.
Research cannot fully disclose the effects of substance abuse during pregnancy, for it affects each case differently, but nonetheless, use of drugs such as methamphetamine and cocaine can be know to deliver disastrous consequences to the mother and child. Many times, the extent of the damage cannot be contributes solely to one drug or another “because multiple factors—such as the amount and number of all drugs used”(National Institute on Drug Abuse,2016). Women who use drugs during pregnancy are often addicted to several substances, including alcohol and some prescription medications.
Alcohol consumption and certain drugs during pregnancy significantly increase the risk that a baby will be born with abnormalities (e.g. fetal alcohol spectrum disorders).
To me, this sounds like the women who have positively tested for controlled substances are guilty of abuse if they knowingly proceeded with the use. Legally, it would be hard to prove women have created a “substantial risk” because there is no set amount of this substance that is safe. Every baby responds differently to each substance and has different extremes of damage. There are very little studies conducted about substance abuse in pregnancies because few women actively choose to participate when they know it can hurt their child indefinitely. Also, some addicted women know it is wrong, but their addiction makes it nearly impossible to stop without intervention. They might not be forthcoming about their use because of guilt or
“ Being a Motherhood is a choice you make every day, to put someone else's happiness and well-being ahead of your own, to teach the hard lessons, to do the right thing even when you're not sure what the right thing is...and to forgive yourself, over and over again, for doing everything wrong.” MMMMM. Being mother is one of the most blessed and the most challenging job in the world. Giving birth to a new life and making it walk through the new world holding its hands showing a good trail makes a mother victorious in her life. In this modern world women’s attitude against pregnancy and being a mother is changing accordingly. There occurs so many miscarriages and maternal death during the pregnancy. A woman should be physically, and more over mentally set to have a baby in her womb. Considering the biological fitness of health it’s said that safer age to be get pregnant is in between 20 to 29. Early pregnancy in the teenage age of 13 to 20 and the delayed motherhood age after 35 is challenging to the health of mother as well as the birth of the child causing currently social issues India.
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.