SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- During the "war on drugs" in the 1980s, you often heard the term "crack babies," referring to babies exposed to the drug when their mother was pregnant with them.
Fast forward more than 30 years, and doctors are still dealing with babies addicted to drugs. And they are seeing a lot of heroin cases.
"There is at least one to three babies every single day in some stage of evaluation and/or treatment between the normal newborn nursery and the intensive care unit," said Crouse Hospital Neonatologist Dr. Michelle Bode.
Bode said the first step in caring for a child even before it's born is to have the addicted mother admit to drug abuse. That way she can be admitted to treatment right away, "which then gives her a better chance of a full-term, healthy infant,” Bode explained, “That's the best thing we can do for the babies. We want them to come on time. We don't want them early."
Once the child is born, work goes into helping mother and child bond. Medical staff will also monitor the baby, looking for signs of withdrawal to the drug. Bode says not all babies have withdrawals, and if they do, there are various levels of it.
"Babies should do baby things: pee, poop, eat and sleep," Bode said. "A baby who's in withdrawal doesn't do any of those normally."
With mild withdrawal, the treatment includes comfort measures like swaddling and feeding. Severe cases are treated with medication similar to the drug the mother was taking, followed by weaning them off. Similar to the symptoms and severity, the length of withdrawal also various with each child.
What happens next depends on a number of factors. Bode says babies will do well in the short and long term if they are raised in a loving and appropriate environment.