Cocaine abuse during pregnancy: maternal and fetal implications

Cocaine abuse during pregnancy has been reported to be associated with a variety of fetal complications and with preterm labor. In this cohort study, pregnancy outcome and health status of infants born to 53 cocaine abusers were compared with those of another group of 100 unexposed women and their infants. Significantly more (P less than .05) pregnancies of abusers were associated with preterm labor. In addition, significantly more (P less than .05) infants had complications at birth (ie, meconium, tachycardia). Infants born to cocaine abusers also had significantly lower (P less than .05) birth weight than infants of controls, and an excess of congenital cardiac anomalies (P less than .01).