Pregnant Or Nursing - Drugs And Alcohol?

[melissa569]

Ok...   I'm asking this both about pregnant moms and nursing moms, because I often hear drug-using or drinking mom's dismiss their behavior by saying the substance is "filtered out" by either the placenta, or the mammary glands

Comments

[futurenurselady]

There have been multiple scientific research studies published in reputable medical journals about how alcohol and street drug use in pregnant and nursing mothers is harmful to a growing fetus or a breastfeeding baby. References to this disorder have been made even in very old literature, such as the Bible, and ancient Greek and Roman writings. ( http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/content/34/6/868.full from The Oxford Journal)

Here's information from the Centers for Disease Control about fetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD):
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/index.html

That page has links to statistical graphs, medical articles, and basic outreach literature for people who are not medical professionals.

Here's another page on the CDC website about preventing birth defects that makes reference to street drug use during pregnancy:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/prevention.html

And here's information from the March of Dimes about how using street drugs affects babies in utero:
http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/illicit-drug-use-during-pregnancy.aspx