okay i belive that maybe 10% of mothers on methadone are taking it for good resaons, but the majority were women who have been addicted to Herroin for many years as a life style. Street smart women who for years munipulated others, stole, or sold themselfs for a fix. one day they found out they were expecting and in most cases CPS gets involved to help the unborn. many of these addicts continue to use while pregnet and after the baby is born. I feel only those who truely seek help for their addiction should have the right to raise their children, the rest should have supervised visits or live with someone who is not addicted and has gardianship of the child.
In the very near future I will become a Grandmother for the first time. My son and his girlfriend are going to be having their first child. And yes the baby will be born with a methadone addiction. I'm terrified, and decided I would spend the evening reading all the websites and forums on babies born to parents that are in the methadone program. The first site I went to was a nurses' discussion forum. There was a lot of info on what I should expect, what I also found out was that EVERY SINGLE NURSE that responded also seemed to have a very prejudice and biased attitude about the babies and they're mothers. So this is what I have to look forward to? The last five years of my son's addiction wasn't heart wrenching enough? I do not doubt any of the nurses knowledge medically on taking care of these babies, but they also need to be heavily educated on what addiction is. I have never been so disgusted, and these are men and woman that have choosen to work in a humanitarian profession??? Here let me educate all you medical professionals, There are many differences between physiological dependence and addiction to substances. We have no idea of the "cravings" experienced by a newborn, But I cannot imagine a newborn having the cortical connections required to experience anything like the "cravings" experienced by an opiate addict, which consist of positive reinforcement of behavior, things that are NOT experienced in utero. It is also important to realize that the withdrawl experienced by addicts consists of more of the pain they're minds go through, self loathing, Guilt, memories of their addictive behavior.
Another little educational fact, 80% of the WORLD'S opiate use is here in the good old US. Yes, we have the pharmasutical companies and medical profession to thank for making opiates easily assesible, and flooding our SUBURBAN neighborhoods. 20% of the world population have a pre-genetic marking to be addicted to opiates. That means someone with wonderful coping skills, a happy life can still become addicted to pain killers after prolonged use. The only way that could happen is if a doctor prescribes these medications. And with this knowledge our highly trained & educated Doctors are still over prescribing? I would say that was professionally irresponsible.
All of these discussion groups have been quite enlightening, I do, now, know what to expect. I will encourage to love and support my son, his girlfriend, and my beautiful grand baby. All I know is this is the first time my son feels hopeful about his addiction. He has even more of a reason to FIGHT through this disease that he was irresponsibly thrown into by the same medical profession that seems to have a very unhealthy attitudes towards addicts.
Dear "babies angel" I'm not thinking your anything like an angel with that unprofessional gutter mouth. And if you are, God help those beautiful babies and their mom's who ARE human beings. Your lack of humanity is horrid and I find it hard to believe you have choosen to work in such a humanitarian profession. IF it is true that you work in a NICU, I'm sure sooner or later you will loose your job with an attitude like that. I feel very sorry for any of your patients. You seem to be one of those self rightous people that we hear about on the news. The "angel of death type" . I hope your not a mom, because I wouldn't want to be raised by such a disgusting human being as you are.....yuck, yuck, yuck!!!
you know NOTHING!!! MOST BABIES BORN TO METHADONE GO THROUGH WITHDRAWAL.... KNOWLEDGE IS POWER SO TRY AND GET SOME BEFORE U SPEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!
you are so wrong and misinformed. the clinics take tests before you are accepted to see what you are taking. I was on methadone for 4 yaers became pregnant and couldnt come off of methadone due to withdrawls in the baby. i askeds and it was forbidden. my baby was born and in icu for a month. she is now 23 months old and very smart. although i do worry about her speech. she only says a few words, ma ma da da ba ba cheese ball.. but she knows exactly what im telling her..if i say go get mama a diaper, she gets it for me. has anyone else this issue with babies born on methadone? im really worried.
im 11 weeks tomarrow an im on methadone, i was on methadone for at least 7 months before i become pregnant, i read all this terrible stuff an i know i shouldnt believe any of it unless it comes from a doctor i dont know anyone that has been on methadone an pregnant, im not really on a high dose i see this was posted over 5 years ago, anyway if anyone reads this they can give me facts??
Hey babe, I just read your post today Jan 16th 2013, so this ones not 5yrs old. lol. I was on methadone & using when I fell pregnant (unplanned) I stopped using when I found I was pregnant at 7weeks but did not increase my dose until I was about 5 months pregnant. I was only on 35mg (7mls). By the end of my pregnancy I raised the dose a little at a time as I wanted to prevent my baby from withdrawls as much as possible, so the max I went up to was 65mg (13mls). Some women I have heard of raising their doses up well over 150mg(30ml) & in excess off 200mg & so on. For me personally I feel this amount is totally unnecessary, the lower the dose you can feel comfortable on is best for both you & bubby. The facts are from my midwife & obstetrician that some babies will go thru withdrawls once born if mum is only on 35mg yet another baby whose mum is on much higher dose may not suffer withdrawls. This confuses me & I don't understand it fully, but from what I do understand I suspect it has something to do with the fact that all babies absorb the methadone, some just seem to absorb more from mum than others. They said to me when I was pregnant its like flipping a coin, you just cant tell which ones will suffer & which ones will breeze through those first few weeks of life without symptoms. My best friend had a methadone baby 4 years ago, she was on 65mg at time of birth, same dose as me when my daughter was born 13months ago. Her baby suffered no withdrawls at all. Both our babies were born ceasarian section, both heathly full term babies, yet my daughter suffered mild withdrawls. We stayed in hospital for 10 days together for observation but she did not need any medication. Her limbs were very stiff & curled up into fetal position unless asleep. She sneezed a lot (up to 10times in a row) but apparently c-section babies are in that curled up position anyway due to not being stretched out through the birth canal (vagina) & they also sneeze a lot due to amniotic fluid in their lungs as this was not squuezed out of them during the natural birthing position. In case you are wondering, methadone babies are not all born by c-section, its just a coincidence that both our babies were for born this way for different reasons. I was 15days overdue & my friends baby was breach (upside down-feet first). Anyway, I will cut to the chase, mine & my friends children are both normal, active, intelligent kids. Mine is a bit hyper & never seems to sit still, but she reached all of her milestones very early, crawled at 5months, walked at 10-11months etc. Anymore questions please write back. There is a lot of negative stuff written on this site by people on their soapboxes who have never been on methadone & think they are better than us because they wouldn't allow themselves to get pregnant & bring a child into this world addicted & blah blah blah, but honestly honey, take the best advice & forget the rest or you will just end up feeling guilty, angry at yourself & possibly have post-natal depression once your beautiful baby is born because of other peoples critisism. Ignore it & ensure you have LOTS of support. If you dont have close family or a partner who can support you it will be particularly important to enlist some community supports. I am in Australia & there is heaps of support here & I utilised everything I could. The hospital you go to for your pregnancy check ups should have a Dependant Mothers Midwifery Team (for mums on substances such as methadone) & also a hospital appointed Social Worker who can link you into some fantastic community groups such as mums & bubs groups, home help, home widwifery service just after you come home from hospital, financial aide groups, playgroups, drug & alcohol counselling for pregnant women & new parents etc. Good luck!
I Sincerely hope your little one is born healthy & you enjoy being a mum. By the way it is best to avoid all other drugs too, unless your doctor feels the pro's outweigh the cons. As there are a lot of prescription medications that may be safe for you, but completely unsafe for your baby. If you smoke & can't quit, cut right down to the least u can, I allowed myself no more than 5 low-mg cigarettes per day & if you wanna quit the best time is when you have morning sickness, the smell of most things will make you vomit, so thats your best chance. oh & try not to drink alcohol either as this can & does cause fetal alcohol syndrome - facial defects, brain defects etc. They say no alcohol at all is the safest way to go, but ultimately the choice is yours. I had a couple of drinks here & there & to be honest wine just made me feel soooo sick, so I just avoided it pretty quickly. lol.
Good on you for asking questions, keep the lines of communication open & ask people who are honest & know the facts, ie hospital midwives. I am by no means a professional on this subject, but I have seen & experienced enough to answer your questions as best as I know how without any judgement.
Hello ive been in methadone treatment for 5 yrs now. 2 1/2 yrs ago i started detoxing from 165mlgs now im at 17mlgs. Ive never felt better. I found out 5mo ago i was pregnant i was very upset. My first daughter was happy and healthy i never touched any drugs with her. Im happy im pregnant, just not happy about being on methadone while pregnant. Im on a very low dose and staying where i am, not going up or down. Most methadone drs want you to go up on ur dose, do not go up! Unless u are having severe withdrawls. Then only go up 1 to 2 mlgs thats it. As you take ur methadone it will pass through ur baby to you. Most people think the baby takes most of the methadone, Thats a lie. Some babies come out with no withdrawl systoms at all, and some babies do withdrawl. Ive been to several drs about this and they say its better for the baby and mother to stay at the dose they were taking when they found out they were pregnant. They said they dont know forsure why some babies dont withdrawl and some do. But from what they found out so far about methadone and pregnacy is that mothers who exersice, eat right, take vitamins, and dont go up on the methadone are the ones who delivery and the baby has NO issues. If u are on methadone and pregnant please be honest to your dr and please dont go up on ur dose. I hope this info helps you. And try not to get pregnant while on methadone its safer and better this way, for you and the baby. Take care of yourself and have a good day.
babies after methadone weening are no different than any other baby my wife is a methdone patient and my two children had to be weened of in nicu at hospital they used morphine every thee hour gradualy decreacing their doses till the where weened and now they are normal children as well they are way ahead of their classmates at school so please do not worry there has being no long tearm effects i know its hard not to worry i feared the worst with my first child
no worries you baby will be well cared for it will go tru a weening process in hospitals nicu they use mophine to ween babies gradualy my baby got her dose every 3 hours till she was totaly weened my first is in school and smart as a whip way ahead of his schoolmates my wife was at 165mls your baby will have aprox 6 weeks of weening and grow up like any other baby do not beleive all the sh*t posted by anyone who only speculates i have gone thru this twice and have two wonderful children if you have any more questions go ask you docter or visit the hospitals nicu
What was the mg of the dose you were on? I hear girl tell me that they are on 135mg and their babies came out fine then I hear girls that are on 63mgs have some withdrawls....please reply
I agree with you on some things but I have to tell you that you are wrong on a couple also. First and furmost babies can be in the hospital way longer than 10 days from methadone. Witout any other issues other than MMT. and methadone absolutely can harm your child. People are misinformed about this! I was told the same thing until I had my son and seen the truth. It can cause speech problems, developmental delays, and long term effects that hopefully over time can be treated and fixed! I know this for a fact as my son was born to methadone and I had to watch in horrer while he stayed for 35 days and I was only on 30 mgs. He has a disorder called Apraxia of speech, he is currently 12.5 months behind in motor skills and he is almost 5 yrs old and that is with being in a program 40 hrs a week for 2 yrs! He has massive therapy and goes thru hell everyday! I don't want any other mothers or children to have to go thru bwhat my son has had to go thru and the guilt I live with everyday! I was told it was perfectly safe to have a child on methadone. I was at the clinic, on birth control( taken correctly!) and had been told for yrs I could not get pregnant in general, and when I did the councelars lied to me and made me believe all was well. They were not concerned at all!!!! The nurses at the hospital say they have been told the same storie for yrs now that the mothers were told there was no negative effects of methadone in pregnancy. I wanted to wean off seeing how I was only at 30 and was only a few wks along when I found out but this was met by major disagreements and me being told I could not and they would not and I would have to leave the clinic for that to happen and obviously you cant quit cld turkey. Now I am not saying to all the mothers that you should quit methadone because yes I no it can hurt your child and could cause a miscarraige, Im just saying for my situation that was a chance I was willing to take at only 3 wks along and on such a small dose. I cant say for certain now that that would have been better I have no way of knowing but I do know that my son has been effected badly! IT DOES HAPPEN!!!!!
and I know many others' who children have issues down the rd, alot. So plz dont always listen to them councelars and nurses at the clinics.