Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Research Paper

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Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is a group of problems that occur in a newborn who was exposed to illegal and addictive drugs. The newborns affected by this syndrome can be also known as drug addicted babies. Examples of illegal and addictive drugs that the mother intakes are; heroin, codeine, methadone, and buprenorphine. These drugs pass through the placenta connected to the baby in it’s mother’s uterus. This causes the baby to feed off of the drug and quickly become addicted to it. If the mother has been using the drug for more than a week before delivery, the baby is considered dependent on the drug immediately after birth. When the baby is born and the umbilical cord has been cut, the mother’s intake of the drug will no longer be passed on to the baby. Since the baby will be dependent on the drug at birth, it will experience withdrawals because it is no longer receiving the drug from it’s mother. Newborns will experience violent withdrawals then will undergo treatments, the mother can prevent her child from being born with …show more content…
It’s also based on the baby’s tolerance for specific medications, procedures, and therapies. The doctor also asks the mother for their opinion or preference as to what they should do to help cure the baby. Drug addicted babies have a very difficult time being comforted. What may help them to feel protected is swaddling them in a blanket. They also need more calories than the average healthy baby due to their increased physical movement. Intravenous fluids or IV may be needed to treat baby if it is dehydrated, vomiting, or has diarrhea. Usually, a small dosage similar to the drug the baby is dependent on is given to them to ease the baby. This is a slow process which allows the baby to not be so dependent on the drug and eventually not need it anymore. Every dosage given to the baby is decreased to wean the baby off of the
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