Abstract
In order to evaluate the effects of maternal abuse of non-narcotic drugs during pregnancy, four groups of infants born to drug-addicted mothers were evaluated and compared to a control group of normals. Group I infants (N=51) were delivered to mothers on methadone maintenance, Group II infants (N=22) to sedative/stimulant (nonnarcotic)-abusing mothers, Group III (N=13) to T's and blues-abusing mothers, Group IV (N=9) to PCP-abusing mothers and Group V (N=27) to mothers who had no evidence of drug abuse. All five groups were similar in maternal age, gravidity, socioeconomic class and neonatal gestational age. Significant decreases in weight, length and head circumference at birth were found (ANOVA) for the narcotic-exposed (Groups I and III) infants while nonnarcotic-exposed infants demonstrated normal growth parameters at birth. Using the BNBAS, Group I infants demonstrated deficits in visual and auditory orientation and motor maturity. All four groups of drug-exposed neonates demonstrated deficits in state control. Group IV infants, in addition, showed increased lability of state and poor consolability when compared to all other drug groups (Fischer's LSD). On the Bayley Scales, scores for all groups, including the control, began to fall away from the normal range at 18 months of age, a phenomenon not uncommon in infants from lower socioeconomic homes.
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Chasnoff, I., Burns, W. & Burns, K. THE EFFECTS OF MATERNAL NARCOTIC VS NONNARCOTIC ADDICTION ON NEONATAL NEURO-BEHAVIOR AND INFANT DEVELOPMENT. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 151 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00346
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00346