What happened to Regina Mcknight? unfortunate, this does not happens often and the frequency affects far too many lives, but in no case is it the fault of mother. No law that man conceives can ever change the sad fact that women are the victim of addiction. Any mother will knowingly sacrifice themselves for their children, this fact is instinctive and hereditary. Therefore, no law or course of disciplinary action has the ability to overdrive a woman's instinctive nature to protect their infant, the issue is the drug itself.
The damage that occurs when a pregnant woman consumes a lethal drug is not only psychological, it is physical affecting the protein receptors causing irreversible corruptions, even if only taken once (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2004). What Society fails to recognize is that these actions are in no means intentional, no functional being wants to live in the constant line of disparity having their stomach fail and hallucinating demonic apparitions. The effects of drugs on children are well known, such as the common phrase “Crack baby” connotates, one has their senses disconfigured having to live in a world when prepared for another. If cocaine were to be ingested during the first trimester the effects are truly fatal commonly leading to death or other serious health hazards such as the child's inability to live unsupported (American Pregnancy Association 2011). Consequently, if the expecting mother decides to use drugs well after the first trimester the fetus will exhibit subtle, but permanent effects from the drugs still being able to function normally but well below what is considered average. However, for the case of a mother suddenly deciding to use drugs goes against basic instinctive ...
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3. "Rubella (German Measles)." BabyCenter. BabyCenter Medical Advisory Board, 2014. Web. 01 Feb. 2014.
4. "Smoking and Pregnancy: Understand the Risks." - Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2013. Web. 02 Feb. 2014.
5. "Tobacco Use and Pregnancy." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 04 Feb. 2014.
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NAS has turned into an epidemic espicially in the state of Tennessee a little more than 320 babies were born with NAS in 2013. Tennessee was the first state to start keeping track of the number of cases of NAS. NAS occurs when pregnant women take drugs such as heroin, codeine, oxycodone, methadone, or buprenorphine (“Babies are being born addicted to drugs”). This happens when the substances pass through the placenta that connects the baby to its mother. Then the baby becomes dependent on the drug like the mother. Hospitals began treating these cases with morphine, by administering a dosage of morphine every few hours as needed and reducing the dosage until the baby was better. During this process doctors need to keep a look out for the babies since the morphine can cause them to stop breathing. A baby born with NAS usually suffers from low birth weight and respiratory problems. Heroin and cocaine are some of the most common drugs being abused, and they both have short and long term effects other than withdrawal symptoms: Such as ph...
Tobacco use during pregnancy is another environmental influence. The nicotine, carbon monoxide, and many other harmful chemicals mixed together in cigarettes are very harmful to the mother and especially the unborn child. This can cut off the baby’s oxygen supply, increase the risk of
During the late 1970’s a movement began with state prosecutors using child abuse, endangerment statues and charges of provisions of drugs to a minor to prosecute pregnant women who used illicit substances during their pregnancies. The prosecution of a pregnant heroine user in the State of California with a felony child endangerment charge was one of the first of such prosecutions in 1977 (Stone-Manista, 2009, pp.823-856). This was the catalyst for the often biased punishment of pregnant drug addicts under the scope of the law. It is this vein of prosecution that struck ...
Cocaine is an illegal drug that can be either smoked in a crack form, or inhaled in a powder form. According to Charles F. Levinthal, cocaine is a stimulant that increases the production of dopamine in the brain. Along with the desired feeling resulting from the increasing dopamine levels, there are many other things taking place inside of the body after intake not only for the user, but also for the growing organism inside of the user (2005). While the drug is in affect in the body (for about 20 to 30 minutes), Laura E. Berk’s research has found that cocaine constricts the user’s blood vessels causing oxygen delivered to the developing organism to fall dramatically for 15 minutes following a high dose (2003). This depravation of oxygen to the developing baby is one of the causes of damage. One of the problems that can result from cocaine ...
Langham, Ph.D., R. Y. "What Are the Causes of Teenage Pregnancy?" livestrong.com. N.p., 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 26 Dec. 2013.
Some people argue that the drug users aren’t the heroin victims. One writer notes, 'The parents of the user who steals from them, abuses them, physically, emotionally and mentally, the siblings who suffer the loss of care and love but who also get abused and used by the user, the kids of the user who learn that the parent's desire for smack is greater than the desire to be a parent,' are the real heroin victims (Fitzgerald, 2000). This problem therefore effects not only the user but the society living around them as well.
Shniderman, Nancy, and Sue Hurwitz. Drugs and Birth Defects. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 1993. Print.
Increasing numbers of women are abusing drugs during pregnancy and thus endangering the well-being and lives of their children as well as themselves. The spreading abuse of phencyclidine (PCP), cocaine, and cocaine's potent form "crack," added to the more well-known addictive narcotics such as heroin, has intensified concerns about the implications of maternal drug use for unborn children.
Substance abuse during pregnancy can have a negative force on the health and wellness of not only the fetus, but that of the mother. The harmful effects of medications, alcohol and illegal drugs on an unborn child can be devastating and can have significant consequences to its use. Sometimes the effects can be faced and treated, and other times the outcome is a lifelong challenge. During the prenatal period, it is important that new mothers are informed of the different types of abuse, how they may affect the fetus, and the adverse conditions their child may be faced with before and after birth.
Smoking is linked with poor reproductive health in both men and women. In men it has been associated with impotence and reduced sperm count. Women who smoke have greater difficulty becoming pregnant and suffer early menopause. The risks to the fetus of smoking during pregnancy are well known and include increased incidence of miscarriage, neonatal death, and low birth weight. Pregnant woman who smoke are more likely to have babies who have an increased risk of death from sudden infant death syndrome and respiratory distress. They are also more likely to have low birth weight babies. Low birth weight is linked to many infants’ health disorders.
Drug abuse can be harmful due to the fact that the placenta connect the mother to the child. Therefore, everything the mother take in her body will be shared with the growing child. If the mother uses a drug the child will be affected by it. At this stage, the baby (fetus) is very delicate to drugs and cannot remove drugs successfully as the mother is able to. Consequently, all the chemical can pile up to very extreme levels in the child’s system and can also cause damages that will last a lifetime. The effect of perinatal drugs use are influenced by the stage of development of the ...
American Cancer Society. "Cigarette Smoking." American Cancer Society. American Cancer Society, 17 Jan. 2013. Web.
The risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome triples if the mother has smoked during pregnancy. “It is estimated that twenty-five percent of expectant mothers in the U.S. smoke throughout their pregnancies. According to a report from the Surgeon General, twenty percent of low birth weight births, either percent of preterm deliveries and five percent of all perinatal could be prevented by eliminating smoking during pregnancy.”
...just being around a person that does can cause harm to a mother’s fetus. Women need to know that smoking can cause miscarriages, premature birth, and other damage to a baby. Before women that smoke decide to make the decision of getting pregnant, they should research all the harmful effects that smoking has on a fetus. If pregnant smokers were to halt tobacco use a total of 986 infant deaths would be averted annually. This validates the need for infusion of more resources into existing smoking cessation campaigns in order to achieve higher quit rates, and substantially diminish current levels of smoking-associated infant deaths (Salihu, Aliyu, Pierre-Louis, & Alexander, 2003). The only way a woman can avoid pregnancy complications associated with smoking is to quit and she should also avoid others who smoke in order to avoid the dangers of second hand smoke.
Ygoy (2008). Causes and Effects of Teenage Pregnancy. Retrieved on 10th July 2011 from http://pregnancy.ygoy.com/unplanned-pregnancy/causes-and-effects-of-teenage-pregnancy/