Pregnant mothers who are addicted to prescription drugs, particularly pain medications, can pass those addictions on to their babies. Health officials are afraid that drug-abusing moms could spawn a widespread class of crack baby-like “oxycontin babies.”

CNN reports 635 babies in Florida were born with addictions to prescription drugs in the first half of the year. A nurse at a neonatal intensive care unit describes the sad plight of the infants:

“They go through withdrawal symptoms. They’re crampy, miserable. They sweat. They can have rapid breathing. Sometimes, they can even have seizures.”

Addicted pregnant women who attempt to cut themselves off from their drugs can harm their babies, causing them to go into withdrawals, so they must seek medical attention to ease off of the drugs.

If you’ve struggled with dependence on pain meds, how did you handle the addiction?

Officials fear for infants born to prescription drug addicts [CNN via Fark]

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