[Management of drug addict pregnant women and their children].
Children of substance abuse mothers have an increased risk of severe pathological disorders such as perinatal diseases (prematurity, intrauterine growth retardation, infections) with their neurological and respiratory complications and sequelae, and transmission of drug addiction related infections, ie human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B and C virus, syphilis. Many of these children present a drug withdrawal syndrome characterized by restlessness and jetteriness during the neonatal period. This is frequently followed by a post withdrawal period of several weeks duration with crying, excitement, sleep and feeding difficulties. Although these drug withdrawal manifestations have no incidence on the vital prognosis, it severely impairs the mother-infant interaction. Despite these disorders it appears that the outcome of these children is mainly related to their familial environment which is exposed to many risk factors: mother-child separation, violence, delinquency, precariousness, unhealthy housing, prostitution, drug dependency, parental death or imprisonment... Early medico-psycho-social intervention starting during pregnancy and a prolonged support for several years are the only way to improve their spontaneously poor outcome.
Lejeune
C
C
Service de néonatologie, hôpital Louis-Mourier, Colombes, France.
Floch-Tudal
C
C
Montamat
S
S
Crenn-Hebert
C
C
Simonpoli
A M
AM
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D009357:Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*