Seven babies born addicted to drugs

SEVEN babies born to Oldham mothers had to be treated for drug withdrawal, shocking information has revealed.

Across the country there were 1,230 babies born where doctors said they were suffering from withdrawal symptoms and of the total 575 cases were recorded with no place of residence for the mother, meaning local figures could be higher.

Across the 152 primary care trusts in the country, only 44 are said to have had to deal with drug-addicted babies.

Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Oldham said they work hard to prevent any addiction and the most severe form of treatment is sedation, though this is very rare, as is Methadone.

A trust spokesman said: “The Royal Oldham maternity service has had a specialist midwife for the last six years to deal with mothers who have drug and alcohol additions during pregnancy.

“The post is funded by the Drug and Alcohol Service and the midwife works very closely with the service to provide care for pregnant women who misuse substances.

“Pennine Acute Trust has a clear screening and referral processes for drug users presenting to maternity services.

“The specialist midwife service aims to provide a tailored package of care that helps the women to participate in treatment programmes during the pregnancy and to optimise their health and their baby‚s health.

“This means that the risk to the baby at birth is minimised and there have been very few babies in recent years that have required additional medical treatment as a result of drug withdrawal.”

Nationally, the number of babies suffering withdrawal has almost doubled from 751 in 1997 to the current 1,230 figure for 2007/8. No local comparison data was available from the Department of Health.

Health minister Dawn Primarolo said: “It is unclear whether there has been a real rise in the number of babies born suffering from the mothers’ addiction, as we suspect that a better awareness of drug misuse has led to an increase of awareness and identification.

“Improved engagement with pregnant drug-addicted women by the NHS and improvement in treatment may have allowed more women to carry a pregnancy to full term.”