Prescription medication addiction is becoming a problem of epidemic proportions in this country. Add fetuses to the growing list of those addicted to prescription medication. No, that is not a typo, and really the only surprise is that obviously fetuses cannot access the Internet – yet!
Medical authorities are witnessing explosive growth in the number of newborn babies hooked on prescription painkillers, innocent victims of their mothers' addictions.
After exposure to months of drugs in the womb, babies experience withdrawal a few days after birth. They scream, twitch and vomit. They have trouble breathing and eating. They rub their noses with their fists so frantically that their skin bleeds.
"It's the newborn equivalent of an adult who goes off the drugs cold turkey. It's really horrible to see these kids. They look in so much pain," says Lewis Rubin, director of newborn services at Tampa General Hospital and chairman of neonatology at the University of South Florida.
To ease their pain and get the babies comfortable enough so they can eat and sleep, doctors give the babies narcotics and sedatives, which can include morphine, methadone and phenobarbital. They basically have to re-addict them using intravenous morphine measured in micrograms. The process can take weeks.
I can guaranty you there is not one parent alive that wishes addiction upon their children, especially newborns. Motherhood is not for the self-centered and selfish. A good online drug class would educate prospective mothers on the dangers of drugs and alcohol on their unborn fetuses.