Babies addicted to meth through mother's use

Babies addicted to meth through mother's use
Dec 20, 2005, 11:47 PM CST
Reported by Jeremy Finley

E-mail: jfinley@wsmv.com

The methamphetamine epidemic in Tennessee is now claiming some of its youngest victims. Hospitals are now reporting some newborns are addicted to meth from their mother's use of the drug.

In many ways, they appear as healthy as other babies, but doctors know the subtle differences that distinguish meth babies.

!They're generally small in size and they are typically very jittery,! says Dr. Leslie Treece.

Dr. Treece works in Cookeville – a town that is plagued by the methamphetamine problem. In her hospital, she has treated babies addicted to meth. The problem is now being passed on from their drug-abusing mothers to the innocent newborns.

The drug is also proving deadly to some babies. In California, investigators say a mother's five week old child died after drinking her meth-tainted breast milk. Because meth curbs an addict's appetite, their babies do not like to eat.

!They're difficult to feed, sometimes difficult to awaken to get them to feed,! says Dr. Treece.

There are also difficult social problems that can arise from this problem. A baby who tests positive for meth is often separated from its mother and put into a foster home.

In addition, there are long term affects that simply are not known at this time.

Many of us have heard of the difficult de-tox process addicts have to go through when they stop taking a drug. The situation is the same for meth addicted newborns. Some babies are even known to develop sores from being exposed to the drug in their days of life.

Because of the problem, hospitals have had no choice but to develop an expertise in treating drug addicted babies. Doctors are careful not to over-stimulate a meth addicted baby because of how jittery they are, and they must also find ways to get them to eat.

This appears, for the time being, to be mostly a problem for rural hospitals.