Re: “Team emphasizes support for addicted moms, infants” (Page B3, July 2):
This New Bedford (Massachusetts) Standard-Times story focuses on a young mother who is being treated for drug addiction. She receives a daily dose of methadone and participates in group and one-on-one therapy.
When she started treatment, she became pregnant. Her first child was born addicted to opioids.
Twenty months later, the mother gave birth to a second child. Following the baby’s birth (at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford), in the first few weeks of her life, the newborn was treated for the opioids she was exposed to.
The Standard-Times reported: “The goal is ‘not to sedate the baby, it’s to manage the withdrawal,’ ” Dr. Jessica Slusarki, site leader for the St. Luke’s Hospital Special Care Nursery, said. “The child will need treatment for ‘the first days, months and years of her life,’ ” according to the newspaper, as will her older sibling.
We all are human beings finding our way in this world. I believe in helping those who have made a mistake. A part of that help is assisting them in making good decisions.
In light of this, I have two questions: Wouldn’t it have been wise to put this mother on a daily birth control pill? And, if not, will there now be a third child born addicted to opioids?
Pamela Brant
Westbrook
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