Giving Birth on Cocaine

Detroit health officials said last week that they are seeing a growing number of pregnant women, both poor and affluent, who are taking cocaine during labor to speed delivery. They said the practice, which is said to be spreading across the United States, endangers both the baby and the mother.

“I think it would be more important to publicize the dangers rather than the benefits because it is so highly dangerous that I can see no benefits whatsoever,” said Dr. David Schwartz, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Sinai Hospital in Detroit.

Dr. Richard Levinson, director of the Detroit Health Department, said that cocaine is being taken by women entering labor because it causes very vigorous and rapid contractions of the uterus, speeding delivery.

But Levinson said use of cocaine at the onset of labor can lead to fetal distress, possibly causing a shortage of oxygen to the brain of the baby, resulting in birth defects.