Drug Use During Pregnancy

Drug use during pregnancy – speaking of illegal and harmful drugs – is one of the worst things an expectant mother can do to herself and to her child. Drug use significantly increases the risks of infant deformities and fatalities, in addition to putting the health and/or life of the mother at risk.

A woman who becomes pregnant while using illegal drugs or other harmful substances and refuses to quit puts herself at greater risk for diseases such as hepatitis and blood anemia. She is more likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease (STD). She is also more likely to go into labor prematurely, have a more difficult and painful labor and deliver a baby that has serious health defects.

As much as you may not like to think about it, any substance you put into your body during pregnancy will affect your baby's body as well. Furthermore, since the embryo or fetus is so tiny and young, its immune system is extremely weak and its health is very fragile. You could kill your unborn baby or cause it serious health problems by using drugs during pregnancy. Babies use drugs against their will when their pregnant mothers use them – an unborn baby has no choice but to let the alcohol, drugs or other harmful substances course through its blood and brain and affect its development.

Some effects you may experience as a pregnant mother on drugs include insomnia, restlessness, lack of appetite, lack of resistance to infections, sudden bleeding, nausea and depression. As bad as that sounds, you must recognize what drugs can do to the baby. Its birth weight may be lower; it may be born early or dead; it may grow slowly and be tiny and weak at birth; it may be born with an inherent drug dependency; it may mentally retarded and/or physically handicapped.

Don't use drugs during pregnancy. If you have used drugs while pregnant, quit now for your baby's sake as well as your own!