DRUG MOTHERS TO BE PART OF WORLD P STUDY

More than 100 New Zealand mothers who used pure methamphetamine during
their pregnancy are being recruited for an international study of the
drug's affect on babies and toddlers.

Auckland will join four states in America for the research, which will
track the babies from birth till their third birthday.

The study hopes to determine what harm is caused by mothers using pure
methamphetamine, commonly known as P, and whether there are any
effects on their children.

Auckland University Medical School developmental psychologist Trecia
Wouldes, who is leading the New Zealand arm of the research, said
mothers who used P and other drugs were often not identified. They
usually came to the attention of health professionals only if they
were in a drug programme or volunteered the information.

In an effort to gauge potential future problems, Dr Wouldes has joined
an American study looking at the problem in Hawaii, Oklahoma, Idaho
and California.

Babies in the study will be checked at birth then monitored at one
month, and one, two and three years.

Dr Wouldes, who has conducted similar studies into methadone babies,
hoped to recruit up to 120 mothers during the next two years. "We
don't know a huge amount about methamphetamine. This drug has caught
us all off guard because its use has just grown so rapidly in New Zealand."

She said there had been an increase in referrals of mothers using P to
National Women's Hospital's drug and alcohol in pregnancy service and
there was a need to plan now for the needs of their children.

The study will include monitoring the birth and development weight and
size of babies, as well as their social, physical and psychological
development to age three.

Dr Wouldes said other factors, such as socio-economic groups and
family situations, would be factored in to ensure the results focused
on the role of P. A control group of mothers who did not use drugs
would also be recruited.

She said the United States studies showed that women who smoked, drank
alcohol or used drugs other than methamphetamine often reduced their
use during pregnancy, but that was not the case with P. "People become
dependent on it very easily."