Children of drug addicts
In recent years, drug addiction in Ukraine has become an epidemic. Even expectant mothers often take drugs. Experts suggest that this happens to every tenth pregnant woman while carrying a child. There are several types of drug addiction:
Hashishism
Hashish is made from hemp pollen, and marijuana, the most common drug, is made from its leaves. The narcotic substances contained in hemp, tetrahydrocannabinols, when entering the body of a pregnant woman, lead to intrauterine growth retardation of the fetus. The more cigarettes with marijuana a future mother smokes, the smaller the weight and head circumference of her child will be. In addition, such a mother is at risk of premature birth.
Cocaineism
Cocaine is injected intravenously, snorted, smoked ("crack") and inhaled. It causes a release of adrenaline, which causes euphoria. But at the same time as euphoria, blood pressure rises, and vasospasm occurs. In pregnant women, metabolism is altered, so cocaine is very difficult to remove from the body and the risk of poisoning increases. Getting into the fetus's blood through the placenta, cocaine causes vasospasm, a strong heartbeat, and increases pressure. At the same time, blood circulation in the uterus is disturbed, placental insufficiency develops, and oxygen access to the child's body is difficult. This causes hypoxia, and the fetus suffocates. With prolonged hypoxia, the child's physical and mental development proceeds more slowly, and the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, and placental abruption increases. If the mother uses large doses of cocaine, the baby may die from a stroke or the child may develop urinary tract malformations.
Use of amphetamines
The effect of these drugs is similar to cocaine: they cause agitation, insomnia, and loss of appetite. People who use amphetamines are usually exhausted and take little care of their health. This type of drug addiction is especially dangerous for pregnant women, because due to the lack of nutrients and impaired blood circulation in the uterus, the mental and physical development of the fetus is delayed. A child under the influence of amphetamines seems half-asleep, sucks the breast poorly, and loses weight quickly.
Heroinism
Heroin is a strong drug. People resort to it after trying marijuana or cocaine. An overdose of heroin causes respiratory arrest. If a pregnant woman uses it regularly, the child is born an addict and experiences, like the mother, all the horrors of "breaking". In addition, heroin causes premature birth and fetal hypoxia. Such children develop slowly, and they are 20 times more likely to have sudden death syndrome.
LSD Use
A synthetic hallucinogen, created to treat mental disorders, is also used by drug addicts. It is called an "elite" drug because it is expensive and has significantly fewer side effects. There is an opinion (not yet confirmed) that LSD causes mutations, premature births, miscarriages, placental abruption, etc. Often LSD is used together with marijuana, cocaine or amphetamines, which destroys all its relative "safety".
Drug addiction
Drug addicts usually inhale organic solvents that are part of paints, resins, varnishes. Toluene is most often used. With prolonged use, intelligence decreases, and atrophy of the cerebral cortex develops. There is evidence that the "passion" of a future mother for toluene "rewards" her child with developmental defects characteristic of children of alcoholic mothers: a flattened nose bridge, a narrow upper lip, fused eyelids at the corners of the eyes, etc. The physical and mental development of such children is delayed, they have mental disorders. Often these children are born with a very small head or very tiny eyes, they often have hydrocephalus (a brain disorder).
Pregnancy and drugs are incompatible concepts.
Almost all drugs cause a delay in the physical and mental development of the fetus, and some threaten its life, provoke miscarriage, and all kinds of developmental defects.
What does the fetus feel during the mother's drug intoxication or during a "breakdown" that she experiences? Most likely, the same as the mother. Narcotic substances penetrate the placenta into the fetus's blood and cause changes in its psyche. A mother who uses drugs risks having not only a physically weak child with "programmed" mental retardation, but also a mentally disabled one.
Unfortunately, the constant "bombardment" of the child's body with substances toxic to it is not limited to drugs. Their use, as a rule, is accompanied by smoking and drinking alcohol. As a result, the effect of the evil influence on the fetus multiplies many times.
What to do?
It is difficult to convince someone who takes drugs to give up this potion. After all, drug addiction is not a whim, it is a disease. However, a pregnant woman must be aware of the harm she is causing to her child.
First of all, she should stop taking drugs. But this should be done under the supervision of a narcologist - a self-induced withdrawal syndrome can have a detrimental effect on the child's health.
If it is impossible to give up drugs altogether, you need to at least reduce their dose. This will reduce the risk of irreversible consequences for the child. When taking amphetamines, special attention should be paid to proper nutrition, and with cocaineism - to a sufficient supply of oxygen to the child's body.
You cannot hide your addiction to drugs from the obstetrician-gynecologist who is monitoring the pregnancy. Unfortunately, often pregnant women are not given a toxicological examination, so the expectant mother must say about it herself.