Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

The incidence of babies born in the United States with neonatal abstinence syndrome quadrupled from 1999 to 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A measure designed to protect babies born to mothers who used opioids during pregnancy was introduced in the U.S. House on Wednesday, Reuters reports. A similar bill moved to the Senate floor last week.

A commission appointed by President Obama and Congress urged the federal government to increase protections for drug-affected babies, Reuters reports.

A measure aimed at protecting babies born to mothers who used heroin or other opioids during pregnancy was approved by a U.S. Senate committee this week.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell says the department is taking a more proactive approach to enforcing a federal law that requires states to report and protect drug-dependent babies.

Two senators on the Senate Finance Committee said Tuesday they are drafting legislation that would let states use federal foster care funds to help parents who are addicted to opioids raise their babies, Reuters reports.

A U.S. House committee is launching an inquiry into the federal government’s enforcement of a law designed to protect drug-dependent newborns.

High prescribing rates of opioid painkillers are likely a factor in the increase in neonatal abstinence syndrome, according to the head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Two U.S. senators are asking the federal government to address the growing problem of drug-dependent newborns, Reuters reports. They say thousands of infants are born each year to mothers who used opioids during pregnancy.

In the last five years there have been 110 cases of babies and toddlers, whose mothers used opioids during pregnancy, and later died preventable deaths, according to Reuters.

Babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome are more than twice as likely to be readmitted to the hospital within a month after birth, compared with full-term infants born with no complications, a new study concludes.

The U.S. House of Representatives has unanimously passed two bills aimed at fighting opioid abuse and its harmful effects. One bill would reauthorize federal funding to states for prescription drug monitoring programs, while the other would create uniform standards for diagnosing and treating newborns exposed to opioids.

A group of Cincinnati hospitals has announced it will test all mothers or their babies for opiates. It is the first program of its kind in the nation, Reuters reports.

A lab in Utah is analyzing sections of umbilical cords to look for evidence of mothers’ drug use, Medical Daily reports. Quickly identifying which infants have been exposed to drugs, and which drugs they were exposed to, can provide valuable information to neonatal specialists treating the babies, the lab says.

The shortage of drug treatment for pregnant women can endanger fetuses, experts tell USA Today. Fewer than 2,000 of the 11,000 treatment facilities listed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration include services for pregnant women.

As more babies are born to mothers who are addicted to prescription painkillers, the costs related to diagnosis and treatment of these infants are rising, according to a new report.

The number of babies treated for the drug-withdrawal syndrome known as neonatal abstinence syndrome has almost quadrupled in the last decade, according to a new study.

A new study finds a woman’s use of prescription opioids during pregnancy increases the risk her baby will be born small or early. Such use also raises the chance the baby will go through painful drug withdrawal, HealthDay reports.

The number of babies born in Florida with neonatal abstinence syndrome soared more than 10-fold in the past 20 years, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the same period, these births increased three-fold nationally.

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome is occurring at increasing rates across the nation, leaving states grappling with treating drug-dependent newborns and whether to charge, prosecute and incarcerate pregnant women who test positive for illegal drug use, explains Sarah Kelsey of NAMSDL.

Several medical groups are calling for verbal drug screening for pregnant women, followed by a urine test if necessary, USA Today reports. The recommendation is meant to reduce the growing number of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome.