About a thousand babies born in Tennessee last year were dependent on drugs.
But it’s not just heroin and illegal substances.
The rise of prescription addiction is hooking those who never had a choice.
TriStar Summit Medical Center NICU Nurse Patti Scott says, “I think you’d be astounded by the number of women who say, ‘I didn’t know this would hurt my baby.’ Educated, intelligent women.”
Scott says often times, pregnant women taking painkillers think the medicines are okay for their baby because their doctor prescribed them.
And for the mothers taking too large of a dose, their babies start showing signs of dependency at about 24 hours of age, diagnosed with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome.
Withdrawal signs range from fussiness and irritability to tremors and in severe cases, seizures.
Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital Neonatologist Dr. Stephen Patrick has actually found in a group of 110 pregnant women in Tennessee last year, almost a third had (continue reading at Fox17)