Supporting Infants
The effects of prenatal exposure appear to lessen over time. This means that infants are the most significantly affected.
Some of the more general effects include:
- smaller birth weight
- overactive or unresponsive to stimulation and interaction with caregiver; easily startled by sound, touch, or lights
- irritability, crying, and withdrawal from contact
- restricted emotional range
- may have difficulties become attached to caregivers
- no anxiety displayed around strangers
- adults not sought out for play, interaction, or comfort
- not calmed easily by self or others
- unable to regulate sleep/wake states
- trouble feeding: immature digestive systems and poor sucking responses
- failure to gain weight
Prenatal exposure to cocaine
- jittery, irritable and may cry continuously or be sleepy, floppy and hard to feed
- increased incidence of irritability, tremors, rigid muscles, temperature instability and poor feeding habits
- brain injuries and nervous system malformation; cardiac, cerebral and respiratory irregularities; and heart, intestinal, facial, limb and eye deformities
Prenatal exposure to methamphetamine
- premature delivery and birth deformities
- strokes or brain hemorrhages before birth do to rapid rise in blood pressure
- learning disabilities, growth and developmental delays
- problems with intestinal development
- developmental and skeletal abnormalities (such as clubfoot). Some babies are born without parts of their arms or legs
- sleep disturbances
- difficulty sucking and swallowing
- bothered by stimuli such as human touch and light
Prenatal exposure to other drugs
Heroin: Newborns may experience neonatal abstinence syndrome (withdrawal) symptoms including tremors, respiratory and gastrointestinal problems, sleep disturbances, and seizures
PCP: Irritability, tremors, jitteriness, extreme sensitivity to stimuli, poor visual tracking, and tight muscles
Tobacco: Increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (“crib death”)
Alcohol: Fetal alcohol syndrome and effects, including facial abnormalities, sleep and sucking disturbances, and developmental delays
Managing Behavior
There are physical interventions that can be used to help infants struggling with the effects of prenatal exposure, including:
- keep low lights near infant to avoid over stimulation
- swaddle if needed especially to help sleep
- keep low noise levels, quiet voices, slow steady movement in handling infant
- maintain a calm, warm, reassuring home environment
- gently stroke the cheek and mouth area to stimulate sucking
- to help with digestion, burp regularly and feed in a semi-upright position with head and neck supported to lessen gas, abdominal pain and spitting up
- gentle massage or warm baths
Parents and other caregivers should also:
- Seek early intervention services such as infant stimulation programs
- Be honest with the pediatrician – try to put aside concerns about stigma or shame. The more information you share the more accurate the diagnosis.
