Pediatrics & Therapeutics
Open Access

Illicit drug use during pregnancy, risk factors and consequences in childhood

JOINT EVENT on 11^th International Conference on Clinical Pediatrics & 2^nd International Conference on Pediatric Surgery

June 29- July 01, 2017 London, UK

Marina Villarreal

Molas Hospital, Argentina

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Pediatr Ther

Abstract :

Illicit drug (ID) use during pregnancy is an important global problem. Prevalence has been increasing during last decades, ranging from 6 to 44%. In the Neonatology Division of a Public Hospital in La Pampa, Argentina, mothers� and newborns� urine samples were tested for ID with predefined medical criteria, since 2009. The disadvantages of this method were its low sensitivity and that it only detects drugs used in the past 72 hours. By 2011, 47 mother-newborn dyads were tested. In 49% cases, an illegal drug was detected. The most common asociation was marihuana and cocaine. As described in the literature, this women were young (media 21 years), had a history of domestic violence (63%), had drug users as convivients (90%), and also used tobacco (84%) and alcohol (47%) during pregnancy. The consequences on childhood of ID intrauterine exposure are under discussion. Research is difficult specially due to polydrug use, but there are other barriers to consider. During childhood, problems related to neurological development have been described following intrauterine exposure to ID. A few studies found poor health controls and high rates of judicial intervention for mistreatment. Some results on ongoing research related to general health and legal situation of dyads with positive urine test detected since 2009, could highlight the practical importance of new follow up strategies.

Biography :

Email: marvillarreal@cpenet.com.ar