Crack baby

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Crack baby is a pejorative term for a child born to a mother who uses crack cocaine.

Contents

[edit] Controversy

There remains some dispute as to whether cocaine use during pregnancy poses a genuine threat to the fetus. The official opinion of the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the United States warns about health risks while cautioning against stereotyping:

Many recall that 'crack babies', or babies born to mothers who used crack cocaine while pregnant, were at one time written off by many as a lost generation. They were predicted to suffer from severe, irreversible damage, including reduced intelligence and social skills. It was later found that this was a gross exaggeration. However, the fact that most of these children appear normal should not be overinterpreted as indicating that there is no cause for concern. Using sophisticated technologies, scientists are now finding that exposure to cocaine during fetal development may lead to subtle, yet significant, later deficits in some children, including deficits in some aspects of cognitive performance, information-processing, and attention to tasks—abilities that are important for success in school.[1]

[edit] Claims regarding threats to fetal and infant health

  • "It's sort of hard to believe that something as powerful as cocaine doesn't have a profound effect on the fetus," said Keith Scott, a researcher at the University of Miami's Linda Ray Intervention Center. [2]
  • Although not a threat after birth, The Australian Drug Foundation has advised that "Research indicates that effects of cocaine use during pregnancy may cause bleeding, miscarriage, premature labour; and/or stillbirth."[3] They also warn about the threat of breastfeeding: "It is likely that cocaine will reach the baby through breast milk."
  • The March of Dimes advises the following regarding cocaine use during pregnancy:
"Cocaine use during pregnancy can affect a pregnant woman and her unborn baby in many ways. During the early months of pregnancy, it may increase the risk of miscarriage. Later in pregnancy, it can trigger preterm labor (labor that occurs before 37 weeks of pregnancy) or cause the baby to grow poorly. As a result, cocaine-exposed babies are more likely than unexposed babies to be born with low birthweight (less than 5½ pounds). Low-birthweight babies are 20 times more likely to die in their first month of life than normal-weight babies, and face an increased risk of lifelong disabilities such as mental retardation and cerebral palsy. Cocaine-exposed babies also tend to have smaller heads, which generally reflect smaller brains. Some studies suggest that cocaine-exposed babies are at increased risk of birth defects, including urinary-tract defects and, possibly, heart defects. Cocaine also may cause an unborn baby to have a stroke, which can result in irreversible brain damage or a heart attack, and sometimes death."[4]
  • The United States National Institutes of Health published a report by Dr. Ira Chasnoff that advises: "The cocaine-addicted women had a high incidence of pregnancy complications, and infants born to cocaine-using women demonstrated an increased rate of morbidity."[5] It is, however, important to note that this study was published in 1989, and more studies have been published since then that may refute or at least minimize the incidence of such effects on infants. (See Chasnoff study below, for example)
  • Many of the traits observed in "crack babies" are consistent with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder; the likelihood of a "crackhead" also being addicted to alcohol is often overlooked, which could account for this overlap of symptoms.

[edit] Counter-claims

Some claim that the "crack baby" threat is an invention of misguided or politically motivated people during the 1980s that would claim that a mother's use of cocaine during pregnancy could affect the fetus by allowing the drug to cross the placenta and affect the fetus' brain, or by causing blood vessels to constrict, which would hinder the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the fetus. Others downplayed or dismissed the medical risk, citing long-term developmental studies.

  • "Their cognitive development is normal when you control for environmental and other factors," said Ira Chasnoff, MD, a University of Illinois College of Medicine researcher. Chasnoff has been studying children with prenatal cocaine exposure since the early 1980s. [6]

[edit] Popular usage of the term

 The neutrality or factuality of this article or section may be compromised by weasel words.
You can help Wikipedia by improving weasel-worded statements.

The term crack babies enjoyed a brief heyday when commentators, especially White conservatives, sought to highlight links between drug abuse, out-of-wedlock pregnancy and so on as maintaining a "permanent underclass".[citation needed] Another related term used in those times was "Welfare queen".



[edit] Radiohead - Coke Babies (lyrics)

Easy living
Easy hold
Easy teething
Easy fold
Easy listening
Easy love
Easy answers
To easy questions
Easy tumble
Easy fall
Easy rumble
Easy doll
I get up on
Easy love
I get up on
Easy questions

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/Cocaine/cocaine4.html#maternal
  2. ^ http://www.ndsn.org/SEPOCT97/POVERTY.html
  3. ^ http://www.mydr.com.au/default.asp?article=2976
  4. ^ http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1169.asp
  5. ^ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2815788&dopt=Abstract
  6. ^ http://www.ndsn.org/SEPOCT97/POVERTY.html

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../c/r/a/Crack_baby.html"