Program working to save babies born addicted to drugs

SALT LAKE CITY — An unborn baby is affected by everything an expectant mother does. That can become a very big problem when a mother makes poor choices like smoking, drinking and doing drugs. The baby has no choice in the matter, yet suffers all of the consequences.

For the women in this situation, they say addiction is a powerful force — powerful enough to make you do something you know can harm your unborn child.

One woman said she can feel her baby getting high when she does because it stops moving around. The key to helping these babies and their mothers is treatment.

Natalie was just three hours old and looked like any other newborn. But in three days, doctors would likely have to heavily medicate her while her body goes through painful withdrawals.

Natalie's mother is a drug addict.

Kristy admits to using heroin and meth while she was pregnant with Natalie. The Division of Child and Family Services took custody of her first child because of her drug use, but this time Kristy is doing things differently.

"She deserves to have a good life and a chance," Kristy said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Natalie is far from the only baby in Utah born to a drug addict. Every morning at 6:00, a line forms outside of Project Reality. Silhouettes of pregnant women file through the door to get their daily dose of methadone — a drug that weans them off of opiates and stabilizes their systems.

"Methadone is very reliable for suppressing withdrawals," says Joel Millard, Project Reality's executive director. "You know if they're here the probability of their outside use is reduced dramatically."

It's difficult to quantify just how many pregnant drug addicts there are in Utah because so many of them don't seek treatment. But in 2010, around 320 out of about 6,000 female drug users were pregnant at the time they entered public treatment.

If a mother is suspected of drug use, the hospital tests the baby's blood. If it comes back positive for methadone, that's a good sign the mother is in treatment. As long as she remains in treatment, she can keep custody of the child.

If the test comes back positive for any drug the mother doesn't have a prescription for, DCFS likely takes custody of the child.