Effects of drug alcohol use during pregnancy

The serious health risks associated with drug alcohol use during pregnancy cannot be emphasized enough, with potentially deadly hazards that can affect both the mother and her unborn child as well as all family members.

If a pregnant woman is using drugs or alcohol and abrubtly stops during her gestation period, both she and the baby can experience the painful, health-threatening withdrawal symptoms. Sometimes these symptoms can cause irreversible psychological or physical damage to the child, and in severe cases, even death. Certain drugs ingested by the mother during pregnancy can dramatically hinder the normal development of the fetus.

The first ten weeks (first trimester) of pregnancy are usually the most crucial for a growing fetus, the period that the fetus’ primary organs and systems develop. Alcohol and drugs used at this stage can affect the growth of the baby’s limbs, heart, central nervous system and facial features, and frequently cause deformities of these organs and areas.

Drug alcohol abuse during the second and third trimesters of a pregnancy may result in abnormally low birth weight, premature birth, or overall stunted growth, which may result in severe health or development problems and even death. Organs like the kidney, those related to sight and sound and the central nervous system are usually affected, contributing to increased behavioral and/or cognitive abnormalities in the unborn fetus.

Effects on the pregnant woman

Women usually experience physical effects like unexpected bleeding, loss of appetite or insomnia, conditions that affect the development of the fetus and even bring about premature delivery. Women who use drugs alcohol while pregnant may also face incidents of increased difficulty in decision making, more trouble recognizing or coping with changes brought about by the pregnancy, and risky behavior that may include even more increased drug alcohol abuse, driving under the influence or unsafe sex. In particular, unsafe sex can result in sexually transmitted diseases which can also be passed on to the unborn fetus.

Some drugs alcohol and their effect on the unborn child include:

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is caused by heavy, and sometimes even moderate, drinking during pregnancy. The effects of this condition are usually permanent, difficult to overcome and disabling. FAS often contributes to difficult and dangerous deliveries, requires significant amounts of medical attention throughout the child’s life as well as ongoing psychiatric treatment and special education needs.

Its physical symptoms are characterized by heart defects, facial deformation (such as small eye openings), small skull (microcephaly), central nervous system (CNS) problems, poor coordination, below average height and weight and vision and hearing problems.

Mental symptoms include learning and behavioral problems such as speech and language impediments; difficulties with mathematical skills; poor memory, attention, and judgment; a significantly low IQ; mental retardation and hyperactive behavior. If left untreated, these symptoms often lead to severe psychiatric problems. FAS babies often grow up to face myriad difficulties such as high drop-out rates, trouble finding and keeping jobs and criminal behavior.

Cocaine, Crack and Methamphetamine

The euphoric effects of these drugs often compel a pregnant woman to use more during pregnancy, impacting the pregnant woman’s central nervous system. Abuse of these drugs, especially during the first two trimesters of pregnancy can result in:

· Increased heart rate

· Constrict blood vessels

· Escalated blood pressure

· Stunted growth in the fetus

· Increased risk of premature delivery

· Miscarriages

· Aburptio placentae, a condition that is characterized by the partial separation of the placenta from the uterus wall.

Heroin and other narcotics

Children of mothers who use heroin and narcotics are likely to be born with withdrawal symptoms characterized by irritability, vomiting and diarrhea and joint stiffness.

Heroin and other narcotic substances used during any stage of pregnancy can result in:

· Low birth weight

· Bleeding (intracranial hemorrhage)

· Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)

· Respiratory problems

· Increased risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases (HIV) and equally high risk of passing it on to the unborn child.

PCP

The use of PCP during any stage of pregnancy generally causes tremors in the fetus and withdrawal symptoms in the baby following birth.

Abstaining is the only way to safeguard the mother and babies health. If a pregnant woman is unable to quite using, she should immediately seek professional drug alcohol addiction treatment. Women who think they can postpone entering a drug alcohol addiction treatment program until they give birth are only complicating their own addiction and jeopardizing the health of their unborn child and their families future.