More Babies Born with Heroin and Opioid Addictions: Study

More babies than ever are being born addicted to opioids, according to a new study led by University of Michigan pediatrician, and rural areas are being hit disproportionately in comparison with their urban counterparts.
The study by Dr. Nicole Villapiano of U-M’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital said urban areas saw a four-fold increase in babies born with opioid addictions, while the increase was seven-fold in rural areas.

The reason, the study’s authors said, is that women in rural areas are more likely to be poor, rely on public health insurance and have less access to mental health care. The authors said the geographic disparity is an urgent call to policymakers to appropriate funding for clinicians and programs improving access to opioid prevention and treatment services in rural areas. Opioids can range from the street drug heroin to prescription painkillers, like oxycodone.

The study was published online by the Journal of the American Medical Association – Pediatrics.

When babies are born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, the clinical term for a baby born addicted to opioids, they can be treated easily for their withdrawal symptoms, which can include increased irritability, hypertonia resulting from injuries to their central nervous systems, tremors, feeding intolerance, seizures and respiratory distress. In some rare instances, the damage may be longer lasting or result in death, especially in rural communities.

“In the worst case scenario, some of these babies die, and there's a higher rate of mortality in this population,” Villapiano told Michigan Public Radio. “Later in life, there may possibly be issues with attention, but more research is really needed to understand the long term effects.”

Villapiano said the shortage of treatment services and other issues make it more difficult for rural women to get their opioid use disorder under control before they become pregnant.

“And the treatment is actually another opioid, something we put moms on to make their opioid use a medically managed situation,” she said.

Experts generally recommend that women who are addicted to opioids get daily methadone doses in a clinical setting during pregnancy — but that may increase the chances the baby will be born with NAS. Quitting cold turkey carries risks of relapse or overdose, which can lead to miscarriage.

The best option, Villapiano said, is to increase treatment options in rural areas so women can get help before they become pregnant.

Photo by ECohen via Flickr Commons