50 percent of Harrison County babies born to mothers who use drugs

Staff photo by Darlene J. Swiger

by Darlene J. Swiger
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a continuing series about how the West Virginia drug epidemic affects the state’s youngest residents. It will explore newborn withdrawal care, treatment for mothers, prevention and adolescent programs.
CLARKSBURG — Drug abuse has become an epidemic nationwide, with West Virginia leading the country in drug overdose deaths. But one statistic that may have been overlooked is the number of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, or NAS, because their mothers used drugs during pregnancy.

From 2004 through 2013, the rate of neonatal intensive care unit admissions across the country for NAS increased from seven cases per 1,000 admissions to 27 cases per 1,000 admissions, according to a recent report in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The Family and Child Tracking System, or FACTS, reports that the number of babies in West Virginia born addicted to drugs continues to rise, Sharon Vealey of the state Department of Health and Human Resources said.

That number went from 21 cases per 1,000 admissions in 2010 to 106 cases in 2014.

There have been 79 confirmed cases in West Virginia so far this year, according to FACTS.

Babies throughout the state are being born with various levels of drugs in their body; some of those babies may not be considered addicted but still require additional treatment and care, said Dr. Alicia Maddix of Premier Pediatric Center in Bridgeport.

“Some don’t require medication, but need longer hospital care and monitoring,” Maddix said.

“West Virginia has a higher level of drug-addicted babies than other states,” she said. “Huntington is another area that is bad. They have a special treatment center for the NAS babies. Our numbers are approaching, if not surpassing, those in the southern part of the state.

“Any of these babies are more likely to develop problems later in life. They are just now beginning to enter into pre-K and kindergarten. We know we will likely face a bigger challenge in school and the workforce down the road.”

In Harrison County last year, approximately 50 percent of babies were born to mothers who used drugs, alcohol, cigarettes or caffeine, with half of those babies needing treatment for withdrawal symptoms, according to Lee Ann Romeo, United Hospital Center patient educator and supervisor for maternal child health.

A total of about 1,050 babies were born at UHC last year.

“Approximately 1,500 babies are born at West Virginia University Medicine Children’s Center each year,” Angela Jones-Knopf, spokeswoman for WVU Medicine, said. “We continue to see an increase in the number of infants exposed to a variety of substances — anywhere from 15 to 30 percent.”

UHC does a drug screening on every mother who comes to the facility to deliver. If the mother is positive, health workers actually screen the babies using a urine and stool sample.

The seven things that mothers are screened for are amphetamines, barbiturates, cocaine, opiates, benzodiazepines, PCP and marijuana. This includes heroin and prescription pain killers.

“A lot of the girls are in a program where methadone or suboxone is being given to help those with an opiate addiction,” Romeo said. “We do a neonatal abstinence scoring system to help determine if the baby is withdrawing from anything. Symptoms include tremors, excessive crying, trouble eating, fast respirations, elevated temperature, twitching or jerking of limbs.”

Babies with these symptoms have an approximate hospital stay of 21-52 days, said Misty Harlow, UHC nurse manager of labor and delivery.

“We question mothers about their drug use and any prescriptions. We make an automatic social service consult. The social worker will talk to the mother and then there is a child protective service referral,” Harlow said. “Through that process, a determination is made if the mother gets to take custody of the baby.

Many times, it comes down to a supportive family unit to help take care of the baby. A very small percentage are placed in custody of the state.”

Once a referral is assigned, the child protective worker reviews the family’s available records and history of past involvement with the DHHR. The worker will conduct a face-to-face meeting with the family, Vealey said.

The worker obtains identifying information about the father and thoroughly assesses the family, including garnering records and information from the hospital, doctors, teachers and drug counselors. A protection plan is initiated before the child is discharged.

The follow-ups continue at home and through other services.

“UHC is one of the only hospitals in the country that provides a room and meals for the mother, who is discharged after 48 hours, to stay and bond with the child during the entire withdrawal process,” Harlow said.

In an effort to continue a support system for the family, they are referred to Healthy Right from the Start if they are not already in the program, along with Birth to 3, for support, education and resources.

“It’s only been an epidemic for about three or four years,” Harlow said. “We don’t know the effect it’s going to have on them at school age. We fear that’s where our true problems are going to start.”