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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.
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]
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 ]
Maternal use of opioids has become prolific. The use of opioids during pregnancy creates a dependency in the newborn who experiences withdrawal symptoms shown in clinical signs of opioid withdrawal. These signs are grouped as the neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome, also known more broadly as neonatal abstinence syndrome. [33]
One of the most well-known consequences of maternal opioid use during pregnancy is the risk of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). NAS occurs when the newborn experiences withdrawal symptoms after birth due to exposure to opioids in the womb. Maternal opioid use during pregnancy can also have long-term effects on the child's development.
Quenton Erpenbeck used heroin for 16 months. For 13 of them he was trying to get off it, his mother, Ann, recalled. He did a 30-day, 12-step-based residential program and followed up with attending 90 AA or NA meetings in 90 days before relapsing. Toward the end of his life, he started taking Suboxone.