Temporal patterns of cocaine use in pregnancy. Perinatal outcome.
Seventy-five cocaine-using women enrolled in a comprehensive perinatal care program were divided into two groups: those who used cocaine in only the first trimester of pregnancy (group 1 [N = 23]) and those who used cocaine throughout pregnancy (group 2 [N = 52]). Perinatal outcomes of these pregnancies were compared with perinatal outcomes of a matched group of obstetric patients with no history or evidence of substance abuse (group 3 [N = 40]). Group 2 women had an increased rate of preterm delivery and low-birth-weight infants as well as an increased rate of intrauterine growth retardation. Group 1 women had rates of these complications similar to the drug-free group. Mean birth weight, length, and head circumference for term infants were reduced in only the group 2 infants. However, both groups of cocaine-exposed infants demonstrated significant impairment of orientation, motor, and state regulation behaviors on the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale.
Chasnoff
I J
IJ
Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago.
Griffith
D R
DR
MacGregor
S
S
Dirkes
K
K
Burns
K A
KA
D000328:Adult; D001519:Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D003042:Cocaine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011295:Prenatal Care; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders; D013997:Time Factors
D003042:Cocaine