Babys borne on methadone

[Why_my_baby]

MY girlfriend is going in to week twenty two of pregnancy and taking methadone . She has abused oxycontin since she was sixteen she is now twenty two years old and she claims to be in treatment. She is taking way more than she needs,not just from the clinic but what she can buy as well. I mean taking enough to combat withdrawl is one thing but because she goes to the clinic she thinks this will do no harm to our child. I really cant believe what she is doing. Shocked would be a better word. She really needs help but she refuses to see the potential effects of this destructive behavior.                                                                    
I have worried so much that my blood pressure is now in the danger level. I have all but given up on any hope of having my first child without many complications. Honestly I dont know how she hasnt had auto accident or a dui.                                                                                                                     How can she do this to her baby? She has got to be stopped before she kills herself or some innocent person. Please if any one can offer advice or information about what i can expect from the high doses of methadone or how to get her some help I would appreciate it very much.
                                                                                                                                Thank you very much
                                                                                                                               worried sick dad

[hellc@mst]

I think when medical professionals promote methadone as safe they are speaking in relative terms. Compared with active addiction to unreliable doses of illicit and adulterated narcotics, a consistent supply of  a legitimate and closely monitered methadone dose is a far less dangerous proposition. I also dont understand  how detoxing the fetus in utero is any "less dangerous" than allowing the baby to go to term (or there abouts)
where the full arsenal of modern medicine can be readily employed and brought to bear. Any complications resulting from an in utero detox are generally unnoticed until its too late. You can not COWS test a fetus. You can not resuscitate a fetus.

Please, safe the fervent piety for the pulpit. Sterilisiation or enforced contraception is an abhorant and facist ideal first trialled, en masse,  by the "eugenics" movement in Nazi Germany. Not an ideology  I would want to be associated with. Your experiences, though awful, are the rare exception as most infants born to women addicted to methadone survive the ordeal unscathed with no long term trauma.  Methadone has been and still is the premier option for responsible (relative)  and pragmatic women, addicted to opioids, seeking to minimise the stress to their unborn baby.  

[gnarly_1]

if done properly they can detox the baby in the neo natal icu giving smaller and smaller doses to the baby if done right they montor the serum level in the baby to know just how much to give them to avoid painful withdrawals I am personal friends with a neo/natal nurse thats job is to brig babys off heroin methadone and oxy she is loving and compassionate if done right they wont release the baby till the withdraws are gone thats the way it supose to go dont no what meat house you where in but it borders on cruel........Gnarly  

[shaebram]

I just want to say that all the methadone clinics that pass it out so easily should be passing out birth control to their female patients too.  You should have to get the shot or pill as a requirement to be in the clinic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[shaebram]

Hi I just want to let those people out there that think methadone is 100% safe for unborn babies you are completely false in your facts.  I have a son 5 yrs old now that was born addicted to methadone and it was not pretty at all.  I was not abusing it I was taking what was prescribed at the clinic and my son was born 3 weeks early and he was 6lbs 12 oz.  He would of been a perfectly healthy baby if it wasn't for the fact that he had to go through withdrawl.  Most adult addicts don't even want to go through that so imagine being born and thats your first experience is withdrawl when they take away all that you have ever known.  My son almost died 5 times from withdrawl.  They sent him home from the hospital on methadone because he was having such a hard time detoxing.  I attempted to detox him at home with phenabarbatoyl and paragoric a barbituate and a opoid he cried for 11 days straight with no sleep except for a few hours and would not let me hold him he would throw himself backwards to get away from me.  He was hospitalized several times to detox but they were not successful eventually they finally got him detoxed when he was 13 mnths old and could do only what a 3 mnth old could.  See heres the thing the clinics and drs. tell you that methadone is safe for pregnant women.  Well it is.  BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BABY??????????????  These Clinics only tell you about the few success rates with methadone born babies which are far and few between.  The babies always have to detox and it's usually not pretty!  The clinics never tell you how horrible it will be and they never tell you the stories like mine or my friend who had a baby on methadone born at 3 lbs and died three weeks later in her crib cause she couldnt take the detox.  They don't tell you those things.  Convince your girlfriend to go to a hospital and tell them to help her get off the methadone cause she is pregnant.  They can do that!!!!!!!  If she wants to continue methadone use after she has the baby so be it.  Think about it the longer your on something the harder it is to get off.  If she quits now it will be better for the baby.  Maybe the baby doesn't want to be born a drug addict.  Don't you think you should allow him/her that choice?  This is your baby too.  Stand up and be a father protect your child!!!!!!!!!!

[ashbewoah]

I've been in a methadone clinical program for 2 years, it has been a blessing in my life. it has really helped me out tremendously, i actually felt like i did before i starting abusing opiates. after being there for little over a year and on 100mg i got stabilized and decided that it was time for me to wing myself off. i was doing fantastic until i was on 20mg and had a urine and my counselor notified me that methadone wasn't showing up in my system and that was the first sign of pregnancy and come to find out she was right, i was pregnant.  not thinking anything about it i figured i could just continue to get my dose lowered and within the 2 weeks of me finding out that i was pregnant i could be off methadone completely. but i was sadly mistaken. my doctor and my counselor pulled me into their offices the next day telling me i could no longer lower my dose on account that there is now a living being inside me. at first i didn't understand, but to make a long story short it was either me be selfish and continue my path of getting off methadone and loose my baby, or have a child addicted to methadone. i felt like at that point that i was in between a rock and a hard place. but i continued with the clinic and my pregnancy with God on my side, without him i wouldn't have made it through. i had my son on 5/5/11; 8:38pm; at 38 weeks and he weighed 7lbs and 6oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. he was perfect in every way. the doctors said he was doing wonderful until 3 days had passed , the withdraws had begun. i knew this day was going to come and i was dreading it.  but to be completely honest he done great in the hospital once they had started him on a medication called PAREGORIC. so i immediately called my father (who is a MD doctor) to ask him what kind of medication paregoric was. he told me it was a prescription that use to be over the counter when he was a child.(i live in Alabama so it was the 1950s when he was a kid. in some states paregoric was prescribed ) he said back when he was young my grandmother gave it to him from ages newborn-18 months of age for colic, diarrhea, cough and for pain. but as the years passed it became over the counter when studies show that it could be abused and can be addictive. this made me feel lots better knowing my son is taking a medication that my father felt was safe. i was ordered by the doctor to give him 45cc every 4 hours and was released from the hospital with my son on the 4th day. he is now 3 weeks old and is acting like a normal baby. he has a wonderful appetite, sleeps through the night (already!), very strong ,very much awake and alert during the day, has a good digestive system, gassy at times but all babies are, now weighs 9lbs 2oz , and he is now taking 40cc every 9hours. i couldn't be happier with all the help and advice his pediatrician gave me, he told me that we could wing my son off so slowly that he would never feel the pain of withdraws. God has really helped me through this situation and has made me have stronger faith in him than i have ever had before. so for all the women out there who are going through the same situation or similar situation, the only suggestions i have is to talk to your babies pediatrician about PAREGORIC and to have faith that God will see you and your baby through this difficult time. may God bless you and your new bundle of joy<3

[LacieK]

I would like to say to the people that criticize all the mothers on methadone having babies---you dont have a clue what it is like to be in that situation--and for those quoting scriptures and thinking they are just so much better than these mothers because they have never been addicted to anything and they would never consider staying on methadone while pregnant---remember the past in the Bible where Jesus says "he without sin throw the first stone??--remember you shouldnt throw stones in glass houses--im sure you are not perfect --and to judge others that are in such a scary situation is sick--find something more productive to do with your life--methadone has saved so many people's lives--you also probably have never went through any kind of addiction so really you shouldnt even be on this site---so for all the mothers and people struggling with addiction to methadone or other drugs-----F*** OFF!!!!!

[kayla717]

my sister in law is pregnant not sure how far but about to deliever  we dnt know when because she has not went to an ob/gyn  this is her 2nd child and she is very badly addicted to methadone and other narcotic pills  what are the risk shes taking and how is it going to affect my niece/nephew  most importantly what can i do about it  it makes me sick to my stomach to know shes hurting that baby

[mtgoat911]

people who have mental illness cannot snap out of it once they become pregnant, so put the guns away people
sounds like this situation calls for an involuntary commitment order, call your local mental health, or voc rehab and ask for the forums for an involuntary commitment, you will go infront of a judge, she does not have to be there, the judge can order treatment and manditory drug screening after birth
my best friend in active addiction got pregnant with twins, the clinics addictionoligist advised her to move up her daily doses because the babies would end up with alot of it, whats probably happening to this mother is that the baby is stealing her dope and she needs to take more just to feel normal, try to view her as a sick person, if she was having an asthma attack you would rush her to the hospital, find anyway you can to force her in treatment, tell her she can use as soon as she gets out of rehab but you are going to protect your babies.......most doctors will advise her to stay on a safe dose of this drug and then detox the baby in the hospital with morphine, it is uncommon to take a patient through methadone wd during pregnancy, hopefully mental health or voc can tell you more about that
good luck, go for custody as soon as you can, thaat is assuming you are not on drugs

[purgatory]

wow that totally creeps me out that mothers are having babies on methodone, only to have the poor child suffer for your; our own errors. I would be so outraged as a father. If I were you I would get some legal documents in order protect yourself. I think your wife is long gone and could take you down with her in the future if she wants out and HALF of everything. I would film her abuse as evidence and do what ever you can to get her to stop, or baker acted w-e you can do I suppose.

[mo2000]

First off, I want to say CONGRATS on your new baby, and know that you are a wonderful father for caring as much as you do before you have even met him or her.

Ok, I have never been in this situation, nor have I had someone in my life in this situation.. but I do have some suggestions that could possibly work for you... as much as they may seem harsh or like something you wouldn't want to do.

Maybe you could speak to the dr in private, and have him drug test her.  This way, she will get "caught" without knowing you were the one who told the dr.  You know, that way she won't do anything for "revenge" towards YOU that could end up hurting the baby.  Does the dr know that she is going to the methadone clinic??? If so maybe he can make the drug test seem like a "routine" testing of levels??? Again, this is just an idea, I'm not sure of the rules of dr/client relationships.

Another thing, here in PA, you can 302 someone who has a terrible problem. They will take them to either a pyschiatric hospital or to a drug rehab (whichever is needed)  I believe that they hold them up to a week, wean them off the drugs, and help them to find a recovery plan.  Of course, after, it would be up to HER to continue on with the recovery plan.  It's a start, and at least they would explain to her what she is doing to your beautiful baby.

Lastly... pray to GOD!!!!!!  God has given some children the gift of an unaffected life regardless of what their mother was pumping into her system during gestation.  This is the biggest hope for everyone, that God will just spare that innocent life.  This can be done along with either other idea, and remember God works wonders.  (I am not an OVERLY religious person either, but have found that God has been my best friend through what I have personally been going through!)

All ideas, none guaranteed, but when it comes down the love for your child, I understand you would do ANYTHING.  Good luck and I keep you and your baby in my prayers.

[windowsca]

Wow!  I'm so glad you want to get through this for the sake of the baby, her and you.  You need a crash course about holistic everything.  Now!  Google   ________for detox, filling in the blank with hypnosis, acupuncture, meditation, sauna, herbs, supplements, yoga.  Honestly, any non-drug thing you can think of!  Acupuncture works wonders for detox and so does meditation.  Hypnosis is basically mind over matter therapy and will make her not want to use, the other stuff will help with the discomfort of w/d.  God knows a psych ward will do nothing for her addiction - they'll keep her for a few days and just give her more drugs for other symptoms,  Those who think having to detox their newborns . . .  WHAT??  This "give me a different drug" **** MUST STOP!!  Certainly when you have a baby coming, if not for yourself.  Sorry to be so crazy about this, but the reason we're all here is to get OFF drugs, right?

[Tallullah73]

Hi Dawn, I am 33 weeks pregnant and on methadone as prescribed.  I would love to hear how you & your baby did after birth.  I am concerned about breastfeeding, but the doctors are encouraging me to do so.  Surely if I wean the baby off the methadone after birth, then breastfeeding with simply re-addict him.  I need to discuss this with my mid-wife, I realise, but I thought you might have some input.  If you do have any advice I would love to hear from you.

[Chappy1214]

My niece was born 13 day ago addicted to methadone.  She was born full term and a healthy 8 lbs 11 oz.  She was put on morphine and clonidine the day after she was born.  She is currently on .22 mg.  How much longer will she have to spend in the hospital?  Should her mother breast feed?

[kim715]

WOW you have to do something ASAP.Shes endangering your babies life,her life,and a lot of other people's too everytime she gets behind the wheel of that vehicle.Normally we suggest to the family of an addict that nothing you say or do will work until they are ready to get clean and that ultimatums aren't a good idea.However at this point I think you need to do whatever it takes.Set her down and have a heart to heart with her let her know that you love her and you love your baby and it's because of that love that you can't sit back and allow her behavior to continue any longer.Tell her that she HAS to come clean with her doctor.Don't be judgemental,let her know that you will go with her and support her,but I'd give her a REAL short time line and be firm and tell her if she doesn't tell him/her YOU WILL.At this point,because she is pregnant,it's NOT a good idea that she lower her dose in ANY WAY,without medical intervention.Eventhough she is going to the clinic and buying it off the street,lowering her dose any sufficient amount could be extremely dangerous to the pregnancy,without the help of her doctor.See how she responds and DON"T just take her word that she will tell her doctor.I'm an addict,and when we are active in our addiction we are liars and manipulators.INSIST that you be at that appointment.As far as her driving tell her that too STOPS now.Let her know that you will enlist the help of family and friends to help you to make sure that she doesn't get behind the wheel in that condition and that if she does and you find out about it you will call the police yourself the next time she does it.Reinforce to her throughout this conversation that you are only doing this because you love her and the baby and the thought of losing either of them is literally making you physically ill.What it all comes down to my friend is this is YOUR baby and she is in the grips of addiction right now and not able to think clearly.Your baby NEEDS you to protect him/her and they need you to do WHATEVER is in your power to help save their mother as well.You HAVE to do something today my friend.Tomorrow may be too late.Please keep posting and keep us updated.My thoughts and prayers are with you all......Peace...Kim

[nick30]

can you have her committed to a hospital psych ward for the babys sake? if she's really taking huge doses she's a danger to everyone.
good luck finding a way to deal with this.

nick

[Why_my_baby]

First i would like to thank each of you for taking the time to answer my post.
Let me make it clear that the amount of methadone she is taking is far beyond what is needed to combat withdrawl.
She is to the point of complete intoxication most of the time.
Passing out for hours at a time only to take off driving as soon as she can get her eyes open enough to find the road.
She lies to everyone her mom ,me, her dr. Im afraid to ride across town with her but i cant watch her twenty four hours a day.
I cant sit back and watch her continue . God gave us this baby as a gift and for a reason.  Its killing me to watch her continue to endanger herself and our unborne child.
I want this baby very much but im afraid of what is going to happen if she isnt stopped. Please remember me in your prayers. thanks to you all.  worried sick dad

[nursegirl6572]

The biggest thing here, dawn, is that she is abusing the Methadone, she isn't taking it as prescribed.  Yes, pregnant women are Rx'ed it all the time, but to abuse it only increases the chance of complications.

The actual med itself isn't "harmful" per se to the fetus, but if withdrawals are bad enough, it can cause serious issues for the newborn.

Glad things worked out for you though...and you 100% did the right thing by confiding in your doctor.  Good for you.

[Dawn583]

all I ment was I had a healthy baby that was born addicted to methadone..... its what most likely saved his life...doctors wouldnt put mothers who were pregnant if it wasnt safe for the fetus.... there is hope.... not an ideal situation....but thank god there was an answer that was safe.....

[TrayCee]

how can you say a baby being born addicted to methadone is safe????

[Dawn583]

Im an a 28 year old female who was on oxycontin for years I found out I was pregnant.. i wanted to do what was safest for my child so I went so see a doctor about my pills and being pregnant.... they put me on methadone right away ... I was on it the whole course of my pregnancy, Ive done research, ive read books and it is 100% safe for the baby... its the safest thing for her to be doing... the baby would go through withdrawl from her pills.... it keep the baby safe... I am still on the methadone.. (im weening off now....) But I have a beautiful healthy baby boy, (no complications) He needed to be weened off ... but trust me.... it is the best thing,... her doctor probably percribed it to her... it will not hurt her child, if she buying more on the side it might be because she need a higher dose.... when youre pregnant the baby takes in the methadone more quickly than her so they ( the doctors)  move your dose up quite high.. so that you wont experiance any withdrawls, aswell as the baby... you should get in contact with  a methadone clinic to get some information,she really is not harming herself or your child... you should , like I said check with the doctors and rest easy..... i hope this has helped a lttle, I know its not an ideal situation but really its the best way for both if she struggles with an oxy, addiction.......

Dawn

[nick30]

i agree with sara, you are the baby's father and have equal rights to protect your baby. You have the right to tell her doctor about any behaviour that is potentially harmful to your child.
good luck

Nick.

[dominosarah]

You need to tell her doctor what is going on.  You are this babies father and you have every right to protect this little baby.  Thank god you are thinking clearly.  Please take care of yourself so you will be around to take care of your new little baby......keep us posted please...........sara

[TrayCee]

TELL. HER. DOCTOR.!!!

[nursegirl6572]

Awww...I feel for you....and your baby is luck to have a Dad like you who truly cares!!!!  I agree that your GF's OB needs to know....and only you would know how to handle that.  What if you gave HER the option to fess up, and if she didn't, say after a week, then YOU tell the doc yourself?  Problem with that kind of thing...it would depend on how she would react.  If she is already vulnerable and abusing meth to that extent, I would fear she would possibly get worse?  Ultimatums are sometimes a necessary evil, but you have to weigh that carefully.

Any which way, you BOTH have a responsibility to this child.  Sadly, YOU could also be held accountable if you say nothing and allow this baby to possibly be in distress after birth.  If the doc thinks she is on a much lower dose, then the baby will not get the proper dose of medication to help him/her thru w/d's.  

You need to proceed in the way you think is best.  YOU have to be the advocate for your child, as your GF is not.  If you want to put the ball in her court, fine...if not, then just go and meet with the doctor.  It is still fairly early in the pregnancy, she could turn this around, but also...if there isn't some kind of intervention, it could get much worse, I fear.  :0(

Lastly...take care of YOURSELF.  Please see your own doctor if your BP remains a concern.  You are going thru a lot of stress...you can't ignore that.  YOU need to be in tip top shape for baby day (CONGRATS btw!).  The way it's going....most likely you will play the primary caregiving role for this baby until your GF can prove that she's clean.

The very best of luck to you, hon.