Babies exposed to drugs in utero may experience developmental consequences including impaired growth, birth defects, and altered brain development. Prenatal drug exposure may impact the child's behavior, language, cognition, and achievement long term.
A mother taking illegal drugs during pregnancy increases her risk for anemia, blood and heart infections, skin infections, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases. She also is at greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases. Almost every drug passes from the mother's bloodstream through the placenta to the fetus. Illicit substances that cause drug dependence and addiction in the mother also cause the fetus to become addicted.
A chromatography is a lab test performed on a woman's urine that can find many illegal drugs, including marijuana and cocaine. Both marijuana and cocaine, as well as other illegal drugs, can cross the placenta. Marijuana use during pregnancy may be linked to cognitive and behavioral problems in the baby. Cocaine use can lead to miscarriage, preterm delivery of the fetus, premature detachment of the placenta, high blood pressure, and stillbirth. Infants born to cocaine-using mothers are more likely to have low birth weight and may have an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
