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PROVO, Utah (AP) -- A drug-addicted newborn suffers withdrawal symptoms every bit as painful at those afflicting an adult addict.
And the newborn also may face an increased threat of addiction throughout its life, said Dr. Ronald A. Stoddard, medical director of the newborn intensive care nursery at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.
But at first there is diarrhea, vomiting, seizures, tremors and problems sleeping -- all before the child is even a week old.
"The baby is addicted to the drug as soon as it's born," Stoddard said. "(If it's) no longer receiving drugs from the mother, it's going through withdrawal. The baby has become addicted to the drug -- just like the mother."
The number of drug-dependent infants born at the UVRMC continues to increase each year, Stoddard said.
"As sad as these mothers are seeing these babies going through withdrawals, they're still using the drugs (because) they're so addicted and dependent on it," Stoddard said. "The best way to combat it is to fight the drug problem that we have in our society."
Instead of seeing one or two cases of baby drug dependency a year, Stoddard now sees about one or two cases a month.
LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City also has a growing population of babies born with a chemical dependence.
An average of 36 babies are in the unit at any one time, and three to five of those are going through the detox process, said Eve Thorup, nurse manager of the newborn intensive care unit at LDS Hospital.
Stoddard said that when a mother uses drugs, the baby gets a smaller dose than the mother would, but the substance still winds its way through the blood stream into the developing body.
"The baby's brain is literally programmed for the need for that medication, and when it's not there any longer, withdrawal symptoms (begin)," Stoddard said.
"The big concern is that even if we treat the baby's symptoms and get them through the withdrawal ... there is a pathway set up now in the baby's brain that makes it more of an addictive-type personality," he said.
In addition, some drugs can stunt growth and development and even cause strokes in babies before they're born, Stoddard said.
Infant drug addictions also are expensive to treat.
An average two-day stay in the hospital for a healthy birth is in the neighborhood of $2,000 to $3,000, Stoddard said.
However, add the cost of a week of intensive care and the detox process and the cost can reach almost $8,000.
During that time, the baby is given small doses of medicine or narcotics to help it slowly come off the drug. It's often just a matter of time and careful monitoring.
So, Thorup and her staff will continue to walk the floor with cranky babies, trying to soothe them through the painful detox process.
Thorup says she often has to remind herself to keep an open mind about the situation.
"It's really easy to be judgmental," Thorup says. "A lot of (mothers) do feel horribly about it and yet they still do it. They still have to do it. (Drugs) change the way they look at life."
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Information from: Deseret Morning News, http://www.deseretnews.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
