Maternal and neonatal effects of substance abuse during pregnancy: our ten-year experience

• Published in: Yonsei medical journal 2008, 49(5), , pp.705-713
• Main Authors: Vucinovic, Mirjana, Roje, Damir, Vucinovic, Zoran, Capkun, Vesna, Bucat, Marija, Banovic, Ivo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Apgar Score; Birth Weight; Croatia - epidemiology; Female; Heroin - adverse effects; Heroin Dependence - complications; Heroin Dependence - drug therapy; Heroin Dependence - epidemiology; Humans; Incidence; Infant Mortality; Infant, Newborn; Maternal Exposure; Methadone - adverse effects; Methadone - therapeutic use; Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome - epidemiology; Original; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications - chemically induced; Pregnancy Complications - epidemiology; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - epidemiology; Pregnancy Outcome; 의학일반
• ISSN: 0513-5796; 1976-2437
• DOI: 10.3349/ymj.2008.49.5.705

The aim of the study was to assess perinatal outcome of pregnancy burdened with maternal addiction in comparison with an unselected population from a European transition country. Data on pregnancies complicated by illicit drug abuse (n = 85) managed during a 10-year period (1997-2007) at Split University Hospital were analyzed. Data on the type of drug, course of gestation and labor, and on perinatal outcome were considered. Data on all non-dependence pregnancies recorded during the study period were used as a control group. During the study period, there were 85 dependence-complicated pregnancies (0.2%). Use of heroin alone during pregnancy was recorded in 51 women (50%), methadone alone in 6 (7%), and a combination of heroin and methadone in 9 (11%). Premature delivery was significantly more common in the group of pregnant addicts (21% vs. 6%); 49% of pregnant addicts were carriers of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and 14% of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Neonatal abstinence syndrome developed in 61 infants (7%) born to addicted mothers. There were 4 cases (4.6%) of early neonatal death; 7 neonates had 5-minute Apgar score < or = 7 (8%); 29 neonates had low birth weight for age (33%); and 7 neonates had congenital anomalies (8%). The risk of various congenital anomalies was 3-fold in the group of children born to addicted mothers. Addiction pregnancies present a small but high-risk group according to perinatal outcome. Appropriate obstetric and neonatal care can reduce the rate of complications in these pregnancies and improve perinatal outcome.