Only in 1985 were the first serious studies done to determine the effects of cocaine abuse during pregnancy on both the mother and the foetus. The findings of these studies showed how there was an increase in spontaneous abortions, premature labour, growth retardation and many more and severe problems for the children of users. Reports also suggested that cocaine exposed neonates would suffer greatly in terms of neurology especially in the long run. These reports despite their small size and the great deal of methodological problems that could not really be clearly interpreted were accepted widely by both the general public and the scientists. One explanation given here as to why this may be the case is that these findings despite their limitations seem to be logical. These people having already seen the effects cocaine was having on the adult users could only infer that the effects on the neonate would be the same or greater.
The journal then goes on to describe the cocaine scene in the subsequent years and how it was perceived and shown by the media. However as time went by the media coverage was no longer light or positive. Both papers and news channels filled their bulletins with scenes and pictures of ‘crack babies’, young children in intensive care as a result of being exposed to cocaine whilst in their mother’s womb. By this time attitudes of the public were transformed into rage as they cried out for something to be done of those who supplied the drugs. But their rage did not stop here, they had a particular rage against the mothers who used drugs and saw them as immortal. So much so that in some states women were being prosecuted for supplying drugs to minors as cocaine was being delivered to the foetus through their umbilical cord. To some this was a step to far. Especially for those that were providing help for addicts, they felt that the only place for these women was in rehabilitation and not prison where instead of being helped they would be punished. As the media and the wider public acted in dramatic ways, drug abuse researchers were going through a period of confusion. Whilst the former were sure that the use of these drugs especially during pregnancy was horrific, the latter were not so sure that this was the case as in their units babies despite being exposed to cocaine were not suffering from the severe toxic effects that were being published in the news. This is just one example of how the media played a crucial role in influencing the views of the public……………………
Studies:
Lutiger et al and his meta analysis. Comparing 4 groups
He used a statistical analysis to analyse reports that were gathered until 1989 .His procedure of meta analysis brought together findings
Richardson and Day.interviews .issues with nterviews especially as women were being prosecuted for taking drugs.looked at group differences rather than individual differences. Their results imply that the use of mild drugs during pregnancy has no great effect on the behaviour,motor activites of the neonate.
Neuspiel et al.issue of using structured interviews.
Structured interviews, like all social interactions, are co-constructed, meaning that both the interviewee and the interviewer shape the context of the dialogue and what is (and is not) said; researchers drawing inferences from such data should by mindful of this fact. For example, inferences regarding what a particular student does or does not understand should be qualified by an acknowledgement of the variety of other reasons why the student may have behaved a certain way – the interviewer may have unknowingly made the student uncomfortable, the particular features of the task or props used may have led the student down a garden path, etc.
A recent observational study on the behavior of cocaine-exposed newborns noted more obstetric complications, smaller head circumference, and a greater number of withdrawal symptoms (Eisen, Field, Bandstra, Roberts, Morrow, Larson & Steele, 1991.). In addition, these polydrug-exposed infants were slower to habituate. In a pilot study by Larson and Field (1989), cocaine-exposed infants were found to have depressed vagal tone, suggesting a parasympathetic-sympathetic imbalance. Given the literature on the relationship between low vagal tone and low developmental scores later in infancy, this group may be at risk for delays in cognitive development. It is also noteworthy that dopamine levels were depressed in the cocaine-exposed newborns. Dopamine depletion has recently been implicated in habituation disturbances in the rat model (Simonik, Robinson, & Smotherman, 1994). It is interesting in that light that both dopamine depletion and habituation deficits were reported for cocaine-exposed infants.
Others have reported inferior performance on the Brazelton scale. during the first month of life, including poorer motor responses and poorer autonomic regulation and more abnormal reflexes (Coles et al., 1991). Both the terms excitable and depressed, or overstimulated and underaroused, have been used to describe cocaine-exposed infants (Lester, Corwin, Sepkoski, Seiper, Peucker, McLaughlin, & Golub, 1991; Singer, Farkas, & Kliegman, 1992). Lester et al. (1991), for example, described two types of cries, one being higher intensity/high frequency and the second being lower intensity. Griffith, Chasnoff, Dirkes, and Burns (1989) reported that cocaine-exposed infants were highly aroused, while Magnano, Gardner, and Karmel (1992) noted that these infants looked in the direction of high-intensity sounds as if seeking additional stimulation.
Chasnoff, Bussey, Savich, and Stack (1986) noted subtle delays in motor development in later infancy. Schneider (1988) found that cocaine-exposed infants had significantly poorer scores on muscle tone, primitive reflexes, and volitional movement; 43% of these infants were at high risk for motor development delays and dysfunction. Rodning, Beckwith, and Howard (1989) noted that toddlers who were prenatally exposed to drugs demonstrated difficulty modulating arousal and abnormal emotional responses. For example, these toddlers did not show typical distress responses when separated from attachment figures. In a study on grade school children, those who were exposed to cocaine were compared with ADHD children; more disturbed classroom behaviors were observed for the former, including more fidgeting, staring into space, off-task behavior, attention-seeking, noncompliant behavior with teachers, and aggressive behavior with peers (Field, 1994). Their Achenbach and Conners scores were also more problematic and in the clinical range for externalizing problems, and they scored high on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.
OTHER FACTORS THAT EFFECT THE MOTHER AND CHILD.
Maternal Depression
Depression is a serious problem in drug-using mothers, and compounds the effects of drugs on their infants (Finnegan, 1988; Regan, Rudranf, & Finnegan, :1980; Reynolds & Gould, 1981; Burns, Melamed, Burns, Chasnoff, & Hatcher, 1985; Zuckerman, Amaroh, & Cabral, 1989). Across studies, more than 50% of the drug-using mothers were moderately to severely depressed (as indicated by Beck Depression Inventory scores above 16), which is not surprising given the problems they experienced, including poverty, legal difficulties, homelessness, lack of social support, loss of children to foster care, and ongoing relationships with drug-abusing or alcoholic men (Finnegan, 1988).
Depressed women have been found to be less involved and affectionate with their infants (Weissman, Paykel, & Clerman, 1972). During mother-infant interactions, depressed mothers are less spontaneous, happy, vocal, proximal, and reciprocal (Cohn, Campbell, Matias, & Hopkins, 1990; Sameroff, Seifer, & Zacks, 1982). Because social interactions between mothers and infants are thought to be critical to language development, problem-solving ability, mastery motivation, and social competence, research on the effects of maternal depression has focused on these early interaction disturbances (Clarke-Stewart, 1973; Ratner & Brunner, 1978; Yarrow, Rubenstein, & Pederson, 1973; Waters, Whippman, & Sroufe, 1979). Although most infants and children. of depressed mothers are at risk for significant social, emotional, and cognitive deficits, the potential for these problems in the drug-exposed infants of depressed mothers is even greater because there are now two disturbed members of the dyad, the drug use affecting both the mother and the infant (Burns & Burns, 1988).
