CENTER MARKS 700 VICTORIES OVER DRUGS

The first images of the cocaine babies were difficult to take.

On TV and in print, pictures of the shaking newborns, many tethered to
countless hospital monitors, began to appear in the late '80s.

By 1990, the state Legislature kicked into high gear. Any newborn who tested
positive for cocaine could be taken from his or her parents.

Out of this crisis, an innovative program was born. Instead of waiting for
babies to be born addicted, the Haymarket Center, an alcohol and drug
treatment program at 932 W. Washington in the West Loop, started helping
addicted pregnant women kick the habit.

Saturday, 11 years later, the center celebrated its victories. About 700
babies have been born under its watch--all drug-free. Haymarket invited
those kids and their moms for a group birthday party.

"I wanted a new way to deal with life," said Denise Murphy, a 39-year-old
mother of six who has been drug-free for a year after abusing cocaine for
10. "I wanted a change--for myself and my children."

Murphy checked herself in to Haymarket's prenatal program, where she got
treatment, learned parenting skills, and her baby's health was monitored.

"I loved it because I was with people who believed in me," said Murphy, who
sat at a table decorated with baby blue and pink balloons in a cavernous
hall at the birthday luncheon. "They cared. That's something I never had
before."

Eight months after giving birth, Murphy is still in a Haymarket residential
program. For six to nine months, the center continues to offer the women
drug and alcohol treatment and helps with such parenting issues as
discipline and good nutrition.

Murphy sought out Haymarket, but treatment for many is mandated by the
Department of Children and Family Services or the courts. Christie Weston
was sent by DCFS after her third child was born addicted to cocaine.

"I hated DCFS at first," said Weston, who will graduate from a rehab program
Friday. "But now I'm appreciative. . . . I have a clearer mind now and
better relationship with my kids and my family."

Weston said she didn't really think her cocaine use could harm her kids.

"I knew about babies getting hurt, but I didn't see it," the 32-year-old
said as she cradled her 9-month-old son on her lap. "But once DCFS told me I
was endangering my children, and I got treatment, I saw the full picture."

Research on the Haymarket children shows that the intervention seems to have
a lasting effect. Dr. Ellen Mason of Cook County Hospital, who has treated
many of the pregnant women and their kids, reports that the Haymarket
children are developing at a rate close to that for average newborns.

"We've given them the opportunity, and they've taken it," said Bettie Foley,
Haymarket's associate director and one of the program founders. "The
empowerment I hear here today . . . it's wonderful."