Prosecution & Treatment of Mothers Who Abuse D Essays - Psychiatry

Prosecution Treatment of Mothers Who Abuse Drugs During Pregnancy: Policy Implications for Their Children Lauren A. Gonder Athens State University , Perspectives on Child Maltreatment Child Advocacy, CA301 INTRODUCTION Substance abuse i s an epidemic in today's society. Per the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 21.5 million American's aged 12 and older battled a substance use disorder in 2014 CITATION NSD14 \l 1033 (NSDUH, 2014) . Physical, emotional, and neurological effects are only the beginning of the individuals suffering from substance abuse . But what happens when a pregnant mother is using drugs ? How can her baby be protected against something he/she has no control over? What can be done to help both the mothers and their children? In 2012, Vanderbilt University published a study that one out of twenty-five b abies were being born into the suffering state of withdrawal from the drugs their mothers took while pregnant CITATION Ech15 \l 1033 (Echegaray, 2015) . In Tennessee, a woman named Brittany Hudson was one of the first charged with assault for taking illegal drugs while pregnant. Her drug addiction started by hanging out with an older crowd in high school and drinking alcohol CITATION Wil16 \l 1033 (Wilhoit, 2016) . The acceptance she felt by these peers allowed herself to be compelled into using Oxycodone by snorting them. Two days later, she was using them intravenously. In 2012, she gave birth to her first child and the baby was born dependent on drugs CITATION Wil16 \l 1033 (Wilhoit, 2016) . Despite her not being ready for recovery, she attended a half-way house and Narcotics Anonymous. She started drinking heavily and soon was back on pills CITATION Wil16 \l 1033 (Wilhoit, 2016) . In 2014, she became pregnant again , but a new law was in place to prosecute women who abuse drugs while pregnant. Brittany was scared that she was going to jail and/or the state would take cus tody of her unborn child. She failed to get prenatal care a few weeks before she gave birth in a friend's car CITATION Wil16 \l 1033 (Wilhoit, 2016) . After the birth of Braylee, she was drug-dependent and spent several weeks in the NICU. Ultimately, the Department of Children's Services removed Braylee from her mother's care and Brittany was pushed further into drug addiction by using heroin. She broke into someone else's home and was arrested. Brittany had to suffer the detox while incarcerated and got out a few weeks later. Her mother was her saving grace and helped her to stay off drugs. After plenty of calls, requests, and denials, Brittany was able to get into a half-way house CITATION Wil16 \l 1033 (Wilhoit, 2016) . With her sobriety, she was able to obtain a job working in a drug treatment center, helping others with similar incidences. Brittany exclaimed that drug addiction is a disease and it should be treated as such and throwi ng someone in jail is not good enough CITATION Wil16 \l 1033 (Wilhoit, 2016) . This paper will first discuss the effects of substance abuse on the mothers and their unborn children, including pre- and post-natal. Next, it will go through the variety of prosecutions by states who indict for prenatal drug abuse. Then, it will examine the different treatment options for drug abused pregnancies. La stly, it will discuss possible policy implications for the children and their mothers. EFFECTS OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE ON MOTHERS UNBORN CHILDREN Substance abu se has physical, emotional, and neurological effects on the human body . Physical effects can be abnorm al respiration, heart rate, and blood pressure. The worst and most specific, physical effect drugs can have on the body is dependence CITATION Tra16 \l 1033 (Tracy, 2016) . If an individual becomes drug dependent, extreme sickness is bound to happen, if you stop taking them. Emotional effects include, aggressiveness, irritability, and severe mental illness. Drugs produce euphoric effects when taken, however, some can also cause damage due to seizures, stroke, and direct toxic effects on the brain CITATION NID17 \l 1033 (NIDA, 2017) . Drug abusers can also develop diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis, and other serious medical consequences, including death CITATION Dru16 \l 1033