35 babies born with mum’s drug addiction.

The number of Lincolnshire babies born as drug addicts has almost doubled in a year.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show last year there were 86 mothers who said “yes” to a history of drug abuse when booking in to give birth at Lincoln County Hospital.

Of those 86 mothers with reported drug dependency, 35 babies were born with their mother’s addiction, as the habit was passed on while the baby was still in the womb.

This figure is a 75 per cent increase on 2008 figures, when 20 newborns required treatment for drug withdrawal. The symptoms associated with babies who are addicted to drugs upon birth are a loud, high-pitched crying, sweating and stomach upsets.

These babies often need specialised care in hospital before they are allowed home.

A number of development problems can arise for children born to substance-abusing mothers.

For example, if a baby has been exposed to cocaine while in the uterus, then birth defects such as cerebral palsy and blindness are more likely. Heroin use can lead to premature delivery, low birth weight and stillbirth.

Head of midwifery at Lincoln County Hospital, Hazel Harrison, attributed the increase in the number of babies born to drug dependent mothers to the national growth in population.

“We have transitional care teams who go out and help mums and babies in the community as well as our midwives and doctors here at the hospitals, so there is a lot more help available today to any family with drug problems,” said Ms Harrison.

“Normally, if we know a new mum has been taking drugs then we keep the baby in hospital for at least five days to check for signs of withdrawal and then administer appropriate treatment.

“If mums have told us about their drug habit then we can treat them and the babies can go home fairly quickly.”

Manager of Lincolnshire Drug And Alcohol Action Team Andrew Cos said that there was an effective treatment system in place for anyone suffering from substance misuse problems.

He said: “In particularly complex cases, such as this where a mum-to-be is experiencing drug related problems, a referral to specialist clinical nurses within the Lincolnshire Drug And Alcohol Service would be made, who would work to ensure that both the mother and child’s needs are met.

“Within our future plans to develop all drug services, we aim to look at new initiatives to focus on midwifery-specific treatment services within the next year.”