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Been There
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Date Posted: 15:55:18 04/21/06 Fri
In reply to:
coco
's message, "Please Help" on 14:57:02 04/21/06 Fri
It is a big step but call Child Protective Services again tell them your suspicions tell them she is very cunning and tricky so do a hair follicle test. The fact that she is harming her baby they can probably put her in a mental institute. Then because you called, you may have a chance to take custody of your child. The fact that you know she is getting high while pregnant? CPS will look at that as neglect also. Read or print the “Helpful Tips” post, you are not alone here. Good Luck.
Quote from Sfj’s site:
(Chew on this for a while. That all things being considered, with the entire rest of one's life in hand... they don't want to quit. They've not gone insane. To them, it makes perfect sense!)
From Go Ask Alice:
Pregnancy
I did meth for the first three months of my pregnancy. I am currently in treatment, but I am scared that the baby may have birth defects?
Answer: It wasn't until recently that they have started to do research on the effects of meth to the fetus. So technically speaking, I can find no scientific proof that can say what the chances are that your baby will or will not be affected by your previous drug use.
However, I can tell you from the women I have known over the years who have done meth at various stages of their pregnancy. All of the babies where the mothers had done meth during their first trimester were born with no problems. They also did not partake in any other substance.
I don't have contact with these women anymore so I cannot tell you if their children developed any problems later on that would be related to their moms drug use, but at the time of birth, they were OK.
It was the babies whose mothers had done meth continuously throughout their pregnancy that the babies were born with meth related problems.
I think the chances are good that your baby will be OK too as long as you continue to stay meth free and refrain from using any other substances as well. Please make sure you take care of yourself and your unborn child and eat healthy and make sure you get the proper amount of vitamins and minerals.
Congratulations on getting into treatment. You are doing the right thing.
Answer provided by Alice.
I used Twice
Question: I am 4 months pregnant and I think I may have made a huge mistake! Before I got pregnant I used speed from time to time and I smoked close to a pack of cigs. a day. However, the day I found out I was going to have a baby I quit smoking and quit using speed as well. Everything was fine until my boyfriend and I got into a huge fight and I decided to get an abortion. I made the appointment and in the mean time since I thought I'd be terminating the pregnancy I used speed twice. Needless to say I never got the abortion and I really don't want to anymore, but if my baby is going to have problems then it's probably best I do right? I haven't used anything since those two times and I never did start smoking again. So I guess what my question is: Did I put my baby in enough danger (I was around 3 1/2 months when I used those 2x) is it best that I abort the baby or if I stay away from drugs and get back on track on my chances of having a healthy baby good?
Alice's Answer: Your chances of having a healthy baby are excellent as far as your meth use goes. You did the best thing possible by quitting smoking and if you refrain from doing meth from this point forward, you should have nothing to worry about. If you are getting prenatal care, please tell your doctor about your smoking and drug use - and be honest with them - that way they can monitor the baby a little more closely plus make sure that you are getting the proper amount of vitamins, etc. Meth really robs the body of nutrients so supplements are really important during the pregnancy.
I hope you continue to not do meth once your child is born.... Meth will only lower your quality of life and your ability to be a good parent. You won't regret you quit, I promise. Sent in July 28th, 2003
My friend used ice at 7 months pregnant. She was freaking out
when she finally came down about what affects can this have on her baby?
How can I make her see that she needs to tell her Dr. and get some help?
Answer: Here is some information that should help you both to understand about the possible effects of meth on an unborn child.
Methamphetamine use during pregnancy affects development of a baby's:
Brain
Spinal cord
Heart
Kidneys
The baby experiences everything that the mother does as a result of taking meth. The baby gets high and comes down just the mother does and goes through withdrawals. It is very important to tell the doctor if you have been using drugs while pregnant because the withdrawals the baby suffers can be life threatening to the baby and to the mother-to-be.
Methamphetamine use during pregnancy may result in prenatal complications, such as premature delivery and birth deformities.
High doses of the drug may cause a baby's blood pressure to rise rapidly, leading them to suffer strokes or brain hemorrhages before birth.
Babies whose mothers used methamphetamine during pregnancy may experience learning disabilities, growth and developmental delays.
Methamphetamine-exposed babies may experience gastroschesis and other problems with the development of their intestines. (Gastroschesis is a condition in which a baby is born with a hole in the abdomen, causing the intestines to be outside the body.)
As a result of methamphetamine use by their mothers, some babies may suffer developmental and skeletal abnormalities (such as clubfoot). Some babies are born without parts of their arms or legs.
Because methamphetamine affects transmitters in the brain, babies often experience sleep disturbances and altered behavioral patterns. These babies have been described as "irritable babies."
Full-term babies born to mothers who use methamphetamine will likely have difficulty sucking and swallowing, much like premature babies.
Often babies born to meth-addicted women cannot tolerate stimuli such as human touch and light. These babies often display tremors and coordination problems.
What are the long-term effects?
The effects of methamphetamine use on brain development may last for many years. School-aged children whose mothers used methamphetamine while pregnant are more likely to be hyperactive or to have attention deficit disorders, learning disabilities and unprovoked fits of anger.
For pamphlets and other materials, contact Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention Resource Center at: 1-800-642-6744.
Answer provided by Alice.
I used methamphetamine twice in the first week of pregnancy.
Will it affect my fetus? I have not used it since.
Answer: While there is a possibility that you might have done damage to the fetus so early in your pregnancy, it is highly unlikely. However, if you have done a lot of meth prior to getting pregnant, or your partner uses a lot of meth - please go see your own doctor and have some tests done.
Meth does cross the placental barrier and can affect babies in the womb.
So, it is very important for you to stop completely avoid any chemical exposure directly or indirectly from here on in. If you do, everything should be OK.
If the fetus' cells are damaged at this very early stage your body will most likely miscarry; which happens a lot normally. Many women miscarry several times before a pregnancy "holds". So again, if your pregnancy is continuing - you will most likely have a healthy and happy baby!
Make sure you get proper vitamins and nutrition. Stay as absolutely stress free as you can (your own hormones can and do affect the child as well). The more calm and carefree you are throughout your pregnancy the less (chemical turbulence there will be for the baby).
Eat well, sleep well, get lots of gentle exercise, and stay happy.
P.S. If you have any doubt - go see a doctor - why take chances, or worry unnecessarily?
Here is a link to some info about babies that were born with a "Crank" Meth Addiction.
If you want a very technical report to read check out this link:
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/bulletin/bulletin_1994-01-01_1_page004.html
Perinatal morbidity and mortality in substance using families.
What are the effects of meth and preganacy?
Answer: I can tell you from personal experience, from people I have met over the years who used meth all during their pregnancy, did have children with various problems and some of those problems didn't start to show until later on when the children were in school. They were slower, sickly, and as babies, were smaller and cried a lot. Basically, every thing that is described below in these two articles these children suffered from at least one of the abnormalities.
Hope this helps.
US MT: Meth Use Linked To Birth Woes
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n578.a03.html
METH USE LINKED TO BIRTH WOES
Research is starting to confirm what experts in addiction and child health have suspected: Parents' methamphetamine abuse is bad for babies. The problem is not simply this one drug, it's all drugs, according to Dr. Kathy Masis, a family doctor and addiction treatment expert who spoke at the Regional Methamphetamine Task Force meeting Friday in Billings. Masis works with the Indian Health Service Billings Area Office. "Cigarette smoking causes more damage to babies than methamphetamine does because so many U.S. women smoke while they're pregnant," Masis said. The effects that another legal drug alcohol has on the developing fetus have been well documented and are publicized in campaigns to prevent fetal alcohol syndrome. Publicity over "crack babies" born to cocaine addicts seems to have left an impression that cocaine is bad for babies, too.
Amazingly, health care practitioners around the country are hearing from their pregnant patients that they think methamphetamine isn't dangerous to babies. "I've heard it in Montana. They've heard it in Southern California," said Masis, who recently attended a national conference on research into methamphetamine's effects on babies. "They say, `I know alcohol is bad, so I switched to methamphetamine.' They know about crack babies, but they haven't heard that methamphetamine is bad." "What we're hearing is women switching from one drug to another.
The message I want mothers to hear is:
`Don't do drugs during pregnancy. Get clean,'
" Masis said. About 20 social service and addiction treatment professionals on the Montana-Wyoming task force listened as Masis described how methamphetamine can harm an unborn child. "If you're taking methamphetamine, you are not eating. We know that. That leads to malnutrition," she said. Masis said people who abuse methamphetamine never use just the one drug. They use it in combination with alcohol, marijuana, opiates, LSD and other substances, sometimes using these other drugs to moderate some of the effects of methamphetamine, according to addiction counselors at the meeting. The death of a newborn resulting from methamphetamine use has been rarely documented, she said. It's not known how often methamphetamine causes miscarriages, but it has been associated with miscarriages late in pregnancy.
One great hazard of drug use during pregnancy is that the fetus doesn't grow and the birth weight is low. Low birth weight puts the baby at risk for a host of problems and is the No. 1 reason for admissions to intensive care nurseries, Masis said. Although research focuses on maternal drug use, Masis said what fathers do also matters. Battering during pregnancy and an unsafe environment for the mother and baby after the birth are substantial factors in infant health. Getting a pregnant woman into addiction treatment isn't the best solution, Masis said. "We need to have more treatment available to mom before she is pregnant." In one review of research on babies born to methamphetamine-addicted mothers, the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York found that methamphetamine produced many of the same effects as cocaine. Both are powerful stimulants that raise blood pressure and the risk of stroke. Both drugs have been associated with heart abnormalities in babies.
Babies exposed to methamphetamine were smaller,
showed abnormal behavior in constant crying and jitteriness
and were at greater risk for bleeding in the brain.
Other researchers have associated cleft lip with methamphetamine exposure. Masis said there is much that can be done to help babies affected by prenatal methamphetamine exposure. The greatest period of brain development is in the last three months of pregnancy and in the first year of life, she said. There is opportunity to help drug-exposed babies even after birth, she said. "What we need to do is nurture them," Masis said. "Love is the most powerful medicine and that's what these babies need."
CRANK BABIES
Methamphetamine drugs may be the worst drugs to hit America. These are drugs like ice, crystal, speed and crank. A national household survey estimates almost nine and one-half million Americans have tried one of these drugs. Well, researchers now are looking at how they impact the most defenseless lives of all newborn babies.
AH, THE MIRACLE OF LIFE. TEN LITTLE FINGERS, TEN TOES AND WHAT A CUTE NOSE! PARENTS HOPE FOR A GIRL OR A BOY. BUT MOST OF ALL. PARENTS WANT THEIR CHILD TO BE AS HEALTHY AS THIS ONE.
New mother: ".just hoping that he was nice and healthy, and everything is okay. Yeah. He's been really healthy."
IT DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK OUT THIS WAY. IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 20 OUT OF EVERY 1,000 BABIES BORN WILL HAVE SOME KIND OF MAJOR BIRTH DEFECT. AND THAT NUMBER INCREASES WHEN MOTHERS ABUSE DRUGS DURING PREGNANCY.
Dr. Michael Sherman/Neonatologist: "You are talking about four times more birth defects with cocaine. You are talking about six times more birth defects if you are talking about methamphetamine."
WHAT IS METHAMPHETAMINE? IT'S A GROUP OF ILLEGAL AND DANGEROUS DRUGS THAT ARE SNORTED, SWALLOWED, SMOKED OR INJECTED AND CAUSE THE BRAIN TO BE FLOODED WITH DOPAMINE, WHICH IS A CHEMICAL THAT STIMULATES PLEASURE.
THE TEMPORARY PLEASURE FROM DRUG USE COMES WITH A COST. MEMORY LOSS, PSYCHOSES, BRAIN DAMAGE, HEART DAMAGE, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, INSOMNIA, AND INTENSE PARANOIA ARE JUST SOME OF THE POSSIBILITIES. AND WHAT DOES METH DO TO A NEWBORN BABY?
Dr. Sherman: "Effects on the brain and spinal cord, such as spina bifida, effects on the heart, effects on the kidneys, where you may have water or malformation of the kidney, particularly. There is a high occurrence of problems with the development of the intestines. There might be skeletal abnormalities, where they might have club foot, or developmental abnormalities or missing parts of their arms or legs as a consequence of this abuse."
DR. MICHAEL SHERMAN, CHIEF OF NEONATOLOGY AT UC DAVIS MEDICAL CENTER, IS STUDYING HOW DEVASTATING THE EFFECTS OF METH CAN BE TO NEWBORN BABIES.
Dr. Sherman: "This is called gastroschesis - it's where there is a hole in the abdomen. All of the intestines are outside the body. This is a common birth defect in mothers who abuse methamphetamine and cocaine before birth particularly methamphetamine."
THIS LITTLE ONE'S HEART MUSCLE WAS SO UNDERDEVELOPED IT STOPPED WORKING SHORTLY AFTER BIRTH.
Dr. Sherman: "This is where she had her first surgery, and she then had the surgery again. And here... down here is where the pacemaker is."
AFTER RECOVERING FROM SEVERAL HEART SURGERIES AND EVEN NEEDING A PACEMAKER TO SURVIVE THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF LIFE, THIS DRUG EXPOSED BABY STILL HAS MANY MORE BATTLES TO OVERCOME.
Dr. Sherman: "But the long-term consequences of its effects in the development of the brain may last for years and years and years."
Myrna Terry, foster parent: "There was a time when this child could only sit for about five minutes."
FOSTER PARENTS LIKE MYRNA TERRY KNOW THOSE CONSEQUENCES. SHE TAKES DRUG-EXPOSED INFANTS STRAIGHT FROM THE HOSPITAL NURSERY INTO HER HEART AND HOME. SHE LOVES AND CARES FOR THE BABIES WHO ARE VICTIMS OF THE EFFECTS OF DRUG ABUSE.
Myrna: "The sleepless nights we went through that seemed like forever because even when his body was rid of the drugs, he still had problem with sleeping. Sleep disorder has always been a problem for him."
Dr. Sherman: "The babies may often have sleep disturbances because it does effect transmitters in the brain. So these babies have been described as occasionally irritable babies."
THE EFFECTS OF METH ON BABIES CONTINUE LONG AFTER BIRTH. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THESE CHILDREN START SCHOOL?
Dr. Sherman: "It is difficult to assess how they are going to do at school. Will they have learning disabilities, will they be hyperactive? What will be the really long-term consequences?" "Don't use drugs. This can result in a very serious problem for your baby."
Myrna: "Think of the damage that not only you are imposing on yourself but this innocent child, and the way society looks at this child." These drugs are affecting and, in fact, ruining millions of lives. Researchers have just begun to look at the immediate effects of meth, but the long-term effects to children born to meth-addicted mothers are still unknown.
Answer & research provided by Alice.
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