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06/02/2009: "One in 500 babies now born drug dependent (UK)"
The number of babies born suffering from drug withdrawal symptoms has increased by 67 per cent in the past 10 years, according to new figures obtained by The Independent on Sunday.
In 2007-08, 1,230 babies in England suffered from symptoms including poor sleep, agitation and difficulty feeding because of serious drug use by their mothers during pregnancy.
Professor David Field, president of the British Association of Perinatal Medicine, said: "In the mid-1990s, you rarely saw these babies but now there is always one on the ward who is withdrawing, and the numbers will grow as the rates of addiction continue to grow. Most women we see tend to be on heroin or methadone or both, but the risks to the baby from cocaine are a different kettle of fish because it can stop blood from getting to the developing organs. However, research into links between drug use in pregnancy, birth defects and developmental problems suggests it is the overall affects [sic] of a chaotic lifestyle, poor diet, smoking and alcohol which cause the damage, rather than just the drugs."
[ This is the kind of suffering that a good eugenic policy could cure. ]
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/one-in-500-babies-now-born-drug-dependent-1693502.html