Are you pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant? Well! It is mandatory to avoid using drugs and other substance addiction if you wish for a healthy baby. Keep in mind that drug use during pregnancy is dangerous and brings many side effects on a baby’s health.
Illegal drugs such as cocaine and marijuana are very harmful to fetal development. Apart from this, over-the-counter medicines, caffeine, and alcohol addiction can have lasting effects on the baby. Keep reading to know How Drug Use at Conception Affects Children.
Why Do Pregnant Women Not Use Drugs?
It is highly possible that you may have a long-lasting or severe problem after accessing drugs. However, the same is not true for the fetus. When the mother uses drugs at conception, it increases the chance of giving birth to drug babies. Usually, these children have a multitude of developmental issues.
Based on different studies, the use of drugs during pregnancy directly impacts the unborn baby. When you smoke or drink alcohol, the fetus also does. Likewise, accessing the drugs makes the fetus feel a small impact. Apart from putting your life at risk, you are risking your unborn baby’s health.
The usage of drugs brings a host of health problems such as strokes, seizures, heart attacks and respiratory failure. These life-threatening problems may also pass to the unborn baby. Besides, taking drugs at conception maximizes the chance of premature babies, birth defects and underweight babies.
How Do Drugs Affect The Fetus?
- Cause damage or abnormal development, which leads to congenital disabilities or death
- Change the function of the placenta, which is occurred due to narrowing blood vessels. It minimizes the supply of nutrients and oxygen to the fetus from the mother.
- Makes the muscles of the uterus contract forcefully and trigger preterm delivery.
The drug affects the baby depending on the fetus’s stage of development, dose and strength of the drug and genetic of the mother.