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[Drug addiction and pregnancy. Principal obstetrical and pediatric complications]
N Ciraru-Vigneron1, E Rafowicz, R Nguyen-Tan Lung
1Service de Gynécologie-Obstétrique, Université Paris VII, Hôpital Lariboisière, Paris.
Insights
Heroin use during pregnancy leads to significant fetal complications, including growth retardation and withdrawal syndrome. Long-term, children of mothers with heroin addiction often face developmental abnormalities.
Area of Science:
- Obstetrics
- Pediatrics
- Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
Abstract:
The principal obstetrical and paediatric sequelae were studied in 22 heroin addicts who were followed up at Lariboisière Hospital in Paris between 1980 and 1984. The main effects were on the fetus with 45% showing growth retardation below the 10th percentile, 65% fetal distress, 9% prematurity; 33% had infections and 66% had the withdrawal syndrome. Because of this pathology a high number had to be transferred. Considering the period of study, HIV infection could not be evaluated. The most dramatic result seems to be the long-term effect on these children because only a third apparently live with their families and several suffer from abnormalities in psychomotor development.