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Opioid use is the main cause of neonatal abstinence syndrome, which is where the baby experiences withdrawals from the opioid they were exposed to during the pregnancy. Typical symptoms may include tremors, convulsions, twitching, excessive crying, poor feeding or sucking, slow weight gain, breathing problems, fever, diarrhea, and vomiting. [ 91 ]
Use of cocaine during pregnancy can negatively affect both the mother and the fetus, [20] but the ways in which it affects the fetus are poorly understood. [22] Three main mechanisms of cocaine exposure can harm a fetus, by altering brain chemistry, altering the expression of certain genes, and the constriction of blood vessels. [1]
Opioids can cross both the placental and blood-brain barriers, which poses risks to fetuses and newborns exposed to these drugs before birth. This exposure to opioids during pregnancy can lead to potential obstetric complications, including spontaneous abortion, abruption of the placenta, pre-eclampsia, prelabor rupture of membranes, and fetal death.
Cocaine use during pregnancy can affect a pregnant woman and her unborn baby in many ways. During the early months of pregnancy, it may increase the risk of miscarriage. Later in pregnancy, it can trigger preterm labor (labor that occurs before 37 weeks of pregnancy) or cause the baby to grow poorly.
Babies born prematurely (before 37 weeks) often exhibit less symptoms or in less severity than those born at full term (38 to 42 weeks). This is due to being exposed to the drug for a lesser period of time during pregnancy. Premature babies with NAS tend to recover at a much faster rate than a full term baby would. [4]
The role of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in female fertility has long been suspected and studied. [3] Most studies through 2013 linking development of the fetus and cannabis show effects of consumption during the gestational period, but abnormalities in the endocannabinoid system during the phase of placental development are also linked with problems in pregnancy. [4]
Exposure to recreational drugs. Alcohol: Use during pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. [67] Tobacco use: During pregnancy, causes twice the risk of premature rupture of membranes, placental abruption and placenta previa. [68] Also, it increases the odds of the baby being born prematurely by 30%. [69]
DES gained notoriety when it was shown to cause a rare vaginal tumor in girls and young women who had been exposed to this drug in utero.In 1971, the New England Journal of Medicine published a report showing that seven of eight girls and young women (ages 14 to 22) who had been diagnosed with vaginal clear cell adenocarcinoma had been exposed prenatally to DES. [5]