Drug-Exposed Infants: Understanding the Medical Risk

Abstract

The common, known effects of prenatal drug exposure include intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and neurobehavioral dysfunction. A review of the singular effects of cigarettes, alcohol, heroin, narcotics, marijuana, and cocaine are presented, based on findings of previous studies. This paper also summarizes the important research issues, biologic variability determining outcome, and pharmacologic actions and shortand long-term effects of drugs commonly used by pregnant women. The role of the social environment in determining long-term outcome is emphasized. he thalidomide tragedy, which dramatically brought attention to the possibility that prenatal drug exposure can cause birth defects, gave impetus to the development of the medical field of teratology. Initially, the term teratogenicity, the ability of a drug consumed in pregnancy to cause adverse fetal outcomes, was associated with major birth defects. However, intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), or poor fetal growth, and neurobehavioral dysfunction are now considered more common effects of prenatal drug exposure. The prenatal effects of cigarettes, alcohol, heroin, and narcotics have been studied extensively. Less information is available regarding effects of marijuana and cocaine, though the increasing prevalence of cocaine use among pregnant women has brought new attention to the effects of drug use during