Submitted by SuspiciousBeing6499 t3_z89ira in explainlikeimfive
I understand that doing crack while pregnant can cause severe complications for the fetus. But I never understood what people meant when they say a baby was born addicted to crack. Like, does the baby go through withdrawals once born? If so, do doctors give the baby a little crack so the side effects aren’t too bad from the withdrawals?
Good god, withdrawal as an adult is hard enough. But letting the babies sweat it out is so hard to imagine. Those poor souls…
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Some babies still receive morphine or methadone if their neonatal abstinence syndrome is severe enough.
Depends where you are. In Australia, we score babies on their withdrawal symptoms and methadone/morphine is titrated based off how high their score is. If they’re severely withdrawing, they are definitely medicated.
>But I never understood what people meant when they say a baby was born addicted to crack.
When we speak of addiction, there are two main types.
The psychological addiction or dependence refers to the mental and emotional state where someone feels like they need whatever it is to be normal. We can safely ignore this one in terms of babies, since they don't have well-developed minds to have those responses.
The physical addiction or dependence, however, refers to actual quantifiable changes in the state of the body that makes the body physically require the drug. Addiction to alcohol, for example, causes physical changes in the structure of the brain in order to adapt. Removing alcohol, especially suddenly, throws the body into disarray due to the sudden change in the chemical bath.
This is what is meant when doctors say a baby is "born addicted" to a drug -- their brains have already been changed in the same way as a drug addict's.
The premise of the question is flawed. What doctor has said a baby is [https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2003-04/03-099.html] born addicted to crack? After 16 years of research and more than a decade of following the development of children thought to have been at serious risk, medical experts have not identified a recognizable condition, syndrome or disorder that should merit the label “crack baby.” With no basis in science, the term serves only to stigmatize and slander children and their mothers and should be eliminated from public discourse The Eli5 can be found in [https://pbsnc.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/race-media-and-the-myth-of-the-crack-baby-video/retro-report/">this] this video which teaches "about the tone and content of cultural debates over race and the role of government during the Reagan era." And "presents a case study in how point of view and context can affect the interpretation of historical sources. By understanding how the news media encouraged panic about a national epidemic of disabled 'crack babies'. It shows "the complex factors and motives behind an incorrect account of an event by a primary source."
This is absolutely, positively, 100% the correct answer to the question about crack cocaine specifically. The phrase "crack babies" is a racist, classist dogwhistle.
This is not to say that using cocaine in any form is safe during pregnancy! It can cause pregnancy complications, but a baby born addicted to crack is not one of them.
That said, most babies whose mothers used opiates during pregnancy (including methadone maintenance therapy) will experience opiod withdrawal symptoms after birth. This is called neonatal abstinence syndrome and is characterized by hypertonicity, irritability, vomiting/diarrhea, sneezing, poor sleep, poor feeding, and/or a distinctive high-pitched cry.
Had no idea that it was a racist or classist term. Just kept hearing the term a lot and never knew exactly what it meant. My bad
May be a good time to examine the environment you're in such that you would hear a racist or classist term a lot. Spread the knowledge.
I mean it’s not just my environment. My parents grew up in the 90’s in the south L.A. and would hear it from the community there a lot as well. Relax please, I just asked a question
lol no racism in south L.A.
just ask Rodney King
And I just gave an answer.
Examining one's life is not a criticism, but a show strength. Be strong.
We live in a racist and classist society and we're all marinating in it 24/7. You aren't exempt; everyone has absorbed racist and classist beliefs just by existing.
Until that changes, it's what we do when we learn about the racism and classism inherent in an idea or a phrase that defines us. Now that OP is aware that it's racist and classist, they can choose not to use it anymore and can "spread the knowledge" to others.
What I said.
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When my brother’s son was born, the doctors told him that his son had been born with a dependence on crack. Immediately my brother was scared, as he didn’t understand what that meant for his newborn. The doctors informed him that the baby had been exposed to crack in the womb and that his system was not ready to handle being without the drug. The doctors then explained that the baby would need to undergo a process to detox from the crack and would need to be given small doses of medications to help the baby ease off of the drug over a period of time. My brother was relieved to know that his son would be monitored carefully and would undergo an appropriate treatment plan to safely get him off of the crack for good.
calviso t1_iyahuxq wrote
My wife is a NICU nurse. Before she worked at her current hospital she worked at a county hospital so she saw a lot of babies whose mothers used drugs while pregnant. With that said, take this with a grain of salt since this could be different depending on where the baby is born.
>Like, does the baby go through withdrawals once born?
Yes. Apparently addicted babies have a distinct high-pitched whine that makes it pretty apparent their mother used something while pregnant.
>If so, do doctors give the baby a little crack so the side effects aren’t too bad from the withdrawals?
She says that while the babies are definitely addicted and have a distinct high-pitch whine (compared to non-addicted infants) they never gave anything for crack or cocaine. The babies just had to deal.
Whereas they used to give morphine to the babies addicted to narcotics. But even that's not really a common practice anymore and now they also just let the babies "sweat it out" themselves.