Drug Use in Pregnancy: Mother and Child

Abstract

The crack cocaine crisis has greatly increased the need for the health care practitioner to have an understanding of the identification and management of the substance-abusing mother and the approach to the follow-up of the drugexposed infant. The management of the substanceabusing mother includes evaluation of many factors: the complex interaction of drugs, including cigarettes and alcohol; often the lack of prenatal care; inadequate nutrition; mood disorders; and the possible involvement of sexually transmitted diseases. Care of a drugexposed infant requires diagnosis of the physical injury and sensitive follow-up techniques to monitor potential developmental delay. Drug Use in Pregnancy: Mother and Child introduces a comprehensive treatment model used at Northwestern University. Editor Ira Chasnoff, MD, has organized the 13 chapters around the Perinatal Services Project, a comprehensive treatment model for drug abuse during pregnancy. The 18 contributing authors describe the individual areas of risk, such as pharmacology, recognition, management, mother-infant