Health Officials are nervous at the increase in born-addicted babies — but why does this happen?
Prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic in our nation. This is where the “but what about the children” question comes into play.“We saw the number of crack babies that died,” Sheriff of Broward County, Fl. Al Lamberti explained, “and this is just another version of that. We all need to be concerned.”
Head nurse at Broward General Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit Mary Osuch added, “The babies go through withdrawal symptoms. They’re crampy, miserable. They sweat. They can have rapid breathing. Sometimes, they can even have seizures.”
In 2010, 635 babies were born addicted to painkillers in Florida. It has been the number one problem at the Susan B. Anthony Center in Fort Lauderdale, even worse than crack. The main problem with this is expecting mothers are nervous to seek help because they fear their baby will be taken. It becomes more difficult to battle addiction when pregnant because it requires medical supervision.
“We wanted to have a place where women didn’t have to chose between getting treatment and having their children go into foster care,” says Marsha Currant, who runs the Susan B. Anthony Recovery Center.
Are you surprised by this, Hollymoms?
–Amber Belus
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