This inquisitive little boy just turned
one. He seems to be a pretty typical
toddler and he's done something his
mother hasn't done yet.
He's kicked his habit.
His mother, a former heroin addict, took
daily doses of methadone during her
pregnancy while she's on a long term
methadone reduction program.
She remains hooked on the drug and
her son was born with an addiction as
fierce as her own.
I was really worried.
You know, you're worried whether,
you know, when you're pregnant, you're
worried no matter what.
You know, it's not going to work out.
Right.
And you know that I just was
as worried. You have a lot more to be
worried about.
Babies can be born addicted to anything.
Their mother is addicted to and the case
of heroin and methadone.
The babies are given paregoric or a
sedative during the first month of life
in smaller and smaller doses until they
are drug free.
If the mother has a strong addiction, the
baby may begin withdrawing as soon as 30
minutes after entering the world.
But in many cases, the withdrawal does
not begin until the baby is five or six
days old. And frequently those babies
have already been taken home.
Doctors worry about those infants if
they go through withdrawal and it isn't
treated. In many cases, they all die.
Pediatrician Donald Nelmes has seen
dozens of babies go through withdrawal.
It's an agonizing experience
and tremors,
temperature instability, both high and
low temperature.
Their nose runs well
run water and they're just irritable.
And most of them are so busy
with their withdrawal dehydrated.
It's kind of disheartening to see that
the baby had no say so in it
at all. He had no choice,
the same as a
as an adult.
They can't complain,
you know, to other people like we do,
you know, they have to just cry
and that are carried along.
Pampered, addicted babies
are often premature, underweight and
in need of special care.
Later, neurological and learning problems
may develop.
The problems come not only because of the
drug itself, but because heroin
addicted mothers usually don't get good
prenatal care and aren't in good physical
shape.
Doctors say methadone babies have a much
better shape than heroin babies because
their mothers are under a doctor's care
during pregnancy.
And those mothers may be better prepared
to handle the challenge of parenting.
Yeah, what would you tell him
about drugs?
I don't know. I worry about that all
the time. I don't know what I'm going to
tell him. I'm going to try to be a real
good example for him.
Kevyn Burger, Channel 5, Action News, Dallas.