ALARM OVER AMPHETAMINE BABIES

Worried doctors are seeing an increasing number of babies born to
mothers who use methamphetamine.

Dr Carl Kuschel, clinical director of the newborn intensive care unit
at National Women's, which covers the Auckland region, said staff
usually monitored about 20 babies born to women on the methadone
programme or taking opiates each year - about half of those babies had
to go through withdrawal treatment.

Now doctors were monitoring a similar number of babies born to women
who had been users of methamphetamine, linked to many high-profile
crimes and recently reclassified as a class-A drug.

"That's an increasing issue. It's a more available drug and seems to
be the drug of choice of women of child bearing age. Our population
echoes what is happening in a lot of Australasian centres."

Two babies, born as drug addicts, are going through withdrawal at
Whangarei Hospital.

Northland Health acting general manager Sue Wyeth said the babies were
withdrawing from opiates - opiates include codeine, morphine, heroin
and methadone - and their admission had put extra pressure on the
six-cot special care baby unit.

Dr Kuschel said withdrawal, which involved using morphine, usually
took two to three weeks. If possible doctors preferred not to treat
babies but instead manage their care for three to five days.

Babies suffering from withdrawal were likely to experience tremors,
irritability, hyperactivity and vomiting. A fever, high-pitched cry
and respiratory problems were also common. Some suffered
convulsions.

A team including midwives, obstetricians and social workers worked
with mothers identified as drug users or having a history of drug use.

He said doctors had not yet seen any women who had used
methamphetamine throughout their pregnancy; most had taken it during
the first trimester and had stopped when they became aware they were
pregnant. None of the babies had required withdrawal.

But it was likely many women were not disclosing their drug use and
Australian doctors were now reporting seeing mothers who were habitual
methamphetamine users.

Dr Kuschel said the problem was that doctors did not know what the
impact of methamphetamine use was on a foetus or a baby's brain
development.

Research showed it was unclear whether babies whose mothers had taken
opiates were at greater risk of becoming addicts later in life as
environmental factors played a significant role. There were concerns
about the impact on the baby's long-term behaviour and intellect.

Dr Tricia Wouldes, a child and developmental psychologist at the
Auckland University Medical School who has studied withdrawal in
babies whose mothers were on the methadone programme, said that while
the babies were better off than if their mothers were taking other
opiates, they tended to be smaller and there was a high incidence of
premature birth.

She said the increasing number of pregnant women taking
methamphetamine had "caught us all internationally off balance in
terms of treatment and the risks for these children".

Methamphetamine was a stimulant, whereas opiates were more of a
depressant.

"It's a drug that people become dependent on very quickly ... and
that's frightening."

Dr Wouldes hoped to receive funding to work alongside American
researchers tracking the development of babies born to methamphetamine
users.