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methadone addicted newborn

If a pregnant mother is taking daily methadone, and is 7 months pregnant, I know the baby will be addicted to methadone.  How serious is the withdrawal process for this little infant.  Will there be long term effects?  If the mother is considering of giving up the baby for adoption, how do you prepare the adoptive parents for this?
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1235186 tn?1656987798
Please go to the top of this page and "post a question" of your own. You
Will get info and lots of support.
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6378426 tn?1380766766
hi I was reading thre these and im 31 weeks pregnant on suboxone the doctor wont switch me and im on 8 mg a day do you know or have you heard of woman that take suboxon and had babies not born withdrawling and I have been on it from day one everyday im really worried both doctors tell me the baby will be fine but its hard to believe I know what the withdrawls feel like I cant imagine a newborn any advice would help
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Avatar universal
Doc or OB doc is not going to get u off of it or reduce ur dose. For 1, it is very harmful to baby to reduce ur dose. Can throw u into premature labor or miscarry. This is reason the clinic will not take u down. And for 2, in order to take u down, ur OB doc wud have to start treating ur addiction. Meaning OB doc wud have to prescribe ur methadone for U and then start reducing. In my state of KY, docs r not allowed to administer methadone for purposes of drug treatment.  A OB doc is not licensed to administer methadone in this manner so therefore they never wud!

I was on 30 mg when my baby was born. She is 5 and perfectly healthy n normal. ^^^ Not slow or behind...she is actually above average with what she knows. Methadone is much safer for ur baby than for someone to continue to abuse pills or other street drugs through their preg. I commend u for being in treatment and doing what's BEST for ur baby at this time, given the circumstances.
A mom on hight doses of methadone, the baby may very well withdraw. These babies usually will be in hospital longer than avg stay. My baby had minor minor withdraw on day 2 - slight rooting with mouth causing lower lip to be red. Doc advised me to breast feed which wud give baby a teensy Weensy bit thru my milk hopefully making the WD go away. So I tried it and IT WORKED! :) WD went away, she came home with me on day 3 and I stopped nursing n switched to formula about 3-4 weeks and ALL was fine!!  :)
I have known moms to be on higher doses like 70 n above with babies withdrawing at birth and being in hospital for up to 6 weeks some cases.  At time I was in there my counselor who worked only with preg women told me she had never seen a baby WD and have to stay in hospital without mom when the mom stayed at 30 mg n below. That is why I made sure I kept mine at 30 n below. And I deff had better luck with it than i expected.

Good luck to u and ur baby!! I commend u for being in treatment. Especially for ur baby. :)
Helpful - 0
1440510 tn?1375045710
Please consult a doctor.....You all should let your OB know and have them work out a taper program to get you off.  Your child and YOU deserve to be clean.  Some come out without no issues....however you never know.  You also don't know those long term effects on a baby.  A baby can come out fine but at 3, 4, 5 show major delays.   Please talk to you doctor.
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Avatar universal
I am a mother on methadone and the Clinic refuses to allow me to go down on my dose. I am on 55 milagrams and 15 weeks pregnant! I am so scared my baby will go through pain!!! Please Help ME!!
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571167 tn?1223214465
MY daughter never was any fussier than my other 3 children, her birth weight was normal if u breast=feed your baby will go home with u and only 2% of m-babies go through sever withdraws or even any withdraws at all! you can taper your baby down on your own around 3 months! Please DONT listen to hear say about it. Thats what will stress u out and put u in early labor! My email address ***@****! Got a number to a nurse u can call! She was my life line through my preg. and runs the program i was in!
Helpful - 0
547883 tn?1218792426
**** thats heart breaking for both mother and baby, im a grown man and methadone withdrawal is a nightmare it nearly killed me!! so so sad
Helpful - 0
571167 tn?1223214465
My daughter was born on methodone and she is almost 2 years and very smart! i know about 50 of the same mothers! I go to a clinic 4 methodone. do u wanna talk? e mail me back! Got a ton of truthful info for you.
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Avatar universal
The answer is yes the baby will be addicted and will have to withdrawl.  There are medications that are used to help the infant, but addicted babies typically are lower birthweight, constantly crying and fussy even after they are withdrawn from the drugs.  I'm not sure of the long term effects but I am sure that there are others here that have some insight into that.
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199177 tn?1490498534
clare ,I wish I new all of the answers but I don't . I am hoping someone will be able to help more I just want to say there is tons of support here .
avis
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