Help for Babies of Addicts

Drugs, alcohol and pregnancy can be a damaging, if not deadly, combination. By conservative estimate, cocaine use alone during pregnancy harms 12,000 babies a year in California. Yet few hospitals have programs to treat an expectant mother’s addiction or the money to pay for the expensive care that drug babies require after birth.

Two pending bills sponsored by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier (D-South San Francisco) could help the state meet the growing problem of such infants. One, AB 741, would establish pilot treatment programs in six counties and declare the state’s intent to extend these programs statewide in future years. The other would enable the state to get federal money to pay much of the costs.

Because the first step is finding pregnant women who are drinking heavily or using drugs and need special help, AB 741 would provide for teaching social workers, shelter managers and medical professionals how to identify women at risk and get help for them. Both residential and out-patient programs must be provided, and simple detoxification programs are not enough.

By helping mothers, such programs really help children. Babies born to women addicted to drugs or alcohol are more likely to be born prematurely than those of women who are not addicts, and that reduces a baby’s chance of survival. Even helping addicted women late in their pregnancy can improve the odds of a healthier baby. As in so many cases, early treatment is not only humane but also less expensive. One prenatal visit costs $60 to $90 as opposed to $1,000 a day for care in an intensive care unit for newborns.

Babies born to drug abusers are sometimes mentally retarded. They may have deformed internal organs or be particularly vulnerable to infection. Some may carry the acquired immune deficiency virus. When they enter school, they may also have severe learning problems.

The Deukmejian Administration has indicated a willingness to spend $8 million on pilot projects in four counties, a welcome sign. Speier’s bill would cost around $12 or $13 million and establish programs in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco counties as well as one unnamed rural county. It also would plan expansion to 10 more counties. That’s a sensible approach and would put California firmly on the road to helping what have been the forgotten victims of drug and alcohol addiction.