Arizona Newborn Loses Life Due to Mother’s Drug Use

Posted by azdrugrehabctr on October 8, 2014 under AZ Drug Rehab News | Comments are off for this article

Two and a half hours after being born, a newborn baby boy passed away in Tucson, AZ. When doctors looked into the reason behind the death they found that the baby had methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana in its system. As the hospital staff looked into the devastating turn of events they found that the baby’s mother had been abusing drugs while she was pregnant.

The medical examiner’s office released a report, stating that the cause of death was, “prematurity with substance abuse by his mother as a contributing factor to his prematurity and subsequent death.” Perhaps even more shocking than the mother’s alleged extreme negligence and reckless endangerment is that seven months later she has still not been charged with any crime.

The Tucson Police Department reported that they are still investigating the case; however some people are skeptical that anything is going to be done to avenge the baby’s death. The police department cites complicated loopholes regarding infant death so soon after birth as the main reason why no charges have been filed yet, they are still investigating to ensure that they have a solid case before committing to charges. It should also be noted that the baby’s mother was arrested on drug charges only one month prior to the child being born.

Drug and alcohol abuse during pregnancy is one of the most dangerous things a mother can do to her child. The baby becomes addicted to the drugs while still in the womb and can develop serious and life-threatening complications. Once born, if the baby survives, the child has to go through painful withdrawal in order to get off the drugs. Withdrawal symptoms are typically something that an adult cannot handle, let alone an infant. The types of withdrawal symptoms a baby may experience depend on what drugs the mother was abusing during the pregnancy.

If a mother was abusing heroin or any kind of opiate the child may experience painful flu-like symptoms, inability to sleep, severe aches and pains, cravings for the drug and vomiting. What is even scarier is that when a baby is going through withdrawals their heart rate increases and they become dehydrated.