Abstract
An investigation of 50 addicted, Danish mothers is presented. The addicted mothers were found to have a poor social background, social group 5 occurring twice as frequently as in the normal population. In general, they had poor schooling and frequent changes of both school and of the people responsible for their upbringing. Their poor social status became even worse as a result of their addiction. In most cases they had never worked, had no educational qualifications and had supported themselves by social aid, prostitution and crime. The addicted women had 140 pregnancies resulting in 79 live born children. Their children were brought up in even worse conditions than those in which they themselves were brougth up. This situation was worsened further by poor living conditions and by marked malnutrition also during pregnancy. The children were often born prematurely or had a low weight at birth. The resistance of the women against disease appeared to be weakened and they often suffered from gynaecological diseases, including venereal disease and menstrual disturbances, and from serumhepatitis, phlebitis and many skin infections. The fathers of the children were usually also addicts. An attempt is made to outline a programme of pre‐ and post‐natal prophylaxis for children of addicted women.
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