Double Dangers of Drug Exposure During Pregnancy

Drug abuse is doubly dangerous if you are a pregnant woman as drugs can harm you, compromising your ability to have a healthy pregnancy and they can also directly damage your baby’s prenatal development. As a pregnant woman it is vital you lead a healthy lifestyle by having a well-balanced and nutritional diet, you get enough rest and carry out some light exercise. It is very important to abstain from doing anything that could harm your unborn baby like smoking, drinking alcohol or using drugs. Dangerous Drugs Almost all illegal drugs pose dangerous risks to pregnant women. Drugs like heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Also legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco pose dangers as do some medical drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter types. It is best for you as a pregnant woman to avoid all of these substances as much as you possibly can. If you are planning to conceive then it is wise to heed this advice too. How Drugs Can Affect Specific Stages of Pregnancy There are drugs that are damaging at any stage of your pregnancy and some are particularly harmful at certain stages. The Organ Formation Stage – During the first ten weeks after conception your baby-to-be will be forming his body organs and systems. At this stage alcohol in particular can be detrimental to your fetus’ development possibly causing malformations to his heart, limbs and facial features. The Prenatal Growth Stage – your fetus should be growing quickly in weight and size from the tenth week. Some drugs can harm his developing organs such as his eyes and nervous system at this stage. If you continue to use drugs, smoke or drink alcohol at this stage you heighten the risks of premature delivery and miscarriage. The biggest danger is that your baby-to-be may not grow normally and this is known as IUGR (Intrauterine growth retardation) which means your baby has a very low birth weight, is born too small, born prematurely or all of these things. These unfortunate babies need special care and have much higher risks of future health problems and some do not survive at all. The Birth Stage – Some drugs can be particularly harmful at the end of your pregnancy and can cause problems during labour and birth. Your newborn baby’s health could be adversely affected. Something else to consider is how drinking alcohol and smoking can affect your baby’s sleep patterns once he is born. Particularly, smoking is a huge factor in baby sleep. Research has revealed that prenatal nicotine exposure predicted difficulty in sleeping way more than other substances. Early sleep problems also predicted future sleep problems. Children with prenatal drug exposure to nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, opiates, or a combination of these experienced more problems sleeping than unexposed infants. If you are struggling in your attempts to quit smoking, drinking or drug taking during your pregnancy then speak to your doctor or midwife as soon as possible. By Eirian Hallinan