Affects of Drugs and Alcohol on Unborn Children

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Table of Contents

Abstract3

Introduction4

Discussion5

Conclusion:8

Refrences10

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to study the pervasiveness of illicit drugs use by mothers to be, before and during pregnancy. The occurrence of illicit drug addiction by young women before or during pregnancy is a severe health issue. The research stated that the use of illicit drugs during pregnancy had given emergence to a severe communal health and wellbeing problem in the country that may lead to newborn transistorizes. Selected drugs such as heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, cannabis (marijuana, Indian hemp, hashish and recreational drugs as sedatives or tranquilizers etc), will be used for measuring their adverse effects on the fetus. Current research shows that the use of illicit drugs and alcohol in pregnant women is on constant rise. Almost 6 million pregnancies are reported to take place every year throughout the United States. Out of them 4,058,000 give live births to their children as quoted by the American Pregnancy Association. (www.americanpregnancy.org) These evidences are threatening as “The American Pregnancy Association “, further mentions the social and pregnancy concerns giving a statistic of the following:

1.Number of women who are diagnosed with Post Partum Depression is 11%.

2.820,000 pregnant women smoke cigarettes during their pregnancy.

3.221,000 women were found in using illicit drugs during pregnancy.

4.757,000 women reported to drink alcohol while being pregnant.

This research paper makes school and communities more aware of the nature of the problem so that they device programs to meet the specific needs of women and their children.

Introduction

The use of illicit drugs is never be appreciated in the life of women at any stage of life, nonetheless, its complications are much greater during pregnancies because of the risk factors that relate to the well being of her future child. All the researchers proved that use of any of the illicit drugs as well as alcohol has a fatal effect on the physical as well as mental development of the fetus. For instance, (Dr. Merredew, 2007), Health Development Officer for the BAFF says in an article that although adverse effects to the fetus can occur at any stage from the time of carrying offspring in the uterus, fact to remember is that the first trimester is the highly susceptible period for malformations that are present at the time of birth. However, the brain growth is more rapid in the last trimester of pregnancy. The effects of drugs and alcohol on the unborn child may include pre-mature birth as well as, chromosomal abnormalities, structural malformations (e.g. cleft palate), intrauterine growth retardation; functional impairment (e.g. deafness); behavioral abnormalities (e.g. hyperactivity); and learning difficulties. In some cases, doctors and psychologist are able to find the repercussions of the drugs abuse on the child's physical and behavioral growth in the early years of life.

However, in most cases it is impossible to see the effects for many years and it can be delayed to as long as when the child enters school. As a matter, of fact the ...