Many Florida Babies Born Addicted to Prescription Drugs
Posted on August 4, 2011According to South Florida doctors and nurses, it is concerning to see the astronomical growth among new babies born addicted to prescription drugs. The big concern used to be crack babies that but now newborns addicted to prescription pills are becoming the most prevalent concern among officials in South Florida.
In 2010, a report showed that 635 Florida newborns were brought into the world with addictions. Al Lamberti, with the Broward County Sheriff’s Department, says this is a growing concern for his area as health officials are seeing a dramatic increase in babies born addicted to pills used by their mothers while pregnant.
A head nurse at Broward General in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, says mothers go through withdrawals to the drugs such as sweating, cramping, rapid breathing, and even seizures. Florida has seen an enormous increase in drug deaths related to overdoses. The numbers are up 265% in the last 7 years, according to an article on CNN.
Officials at the Office of the White House on Drug Control Policy say that our nation has a tremendous prescription drug problem and it is the fastest-growing drug dilemma in our country. A recovery center near Ft. Lauderdale says that in 2009 prescription addictions to drugs overtook previous records of crack cocaine, which used to be the problem among pregnant women who were treated at the center.
Marsha Currant, with the Susan B. Anthony Center near Ft. Lauderdale, says they started keeping track in 1995 of the trends relating to mothers and drug use. Currant says in the beginning, it was nearly 100% crack that was the problem. New moms are often hesitant to talk about seeking help because they fear their newborn babies will be taken from them.
