The impact of a mother’s meth addiction on her newborn can be difficult to discern, even among state agencies.
The Pediatric Interim Care Center in Kent, which treats babies born of drug-addicted moms, cared for 192 infants in 2005 — including one from Port Angeles.
A quarter of those babies had parents on meth.
“We have over 10,000 babies in Washington prenatally exposed to drugs, and we’re seeing only 192,” Center Director Dr. Barb Drennen said.
Described by Drennen, meth’s effect on an infant is insidious and can be gruesome.
Babies can be listless and sleep too much, which fools a mom into thinking the infant is content and simply a good baby, Drennen said.
“What a mother sees is a baby who is soft and cuddly and looks healthy, and they are not able to identify it as withdrawal,” said Drennen, who established the center in 1990.
Mom’s meth often stifles an infant’s natural urge to suckle.
“You want to see an ounce of weight gain every day,” Drennen said.
“These babies go the opposite way. If you are sitting there for 45 minutes, just trying to get two ounces of formula down, it’s very disheartening. It’s a form of withdrawal.”
When meth leaves the infant’s system, within the first two weeks it can be excreted from the baby’s buttocks, burning through tender skin.
You heard that right.
“You have open wounds that bleed,” Drennen said.
“You can see a bottom that’s totally clear, then it turns redder and redder and redder.
“On adults, you see scabs and sores all over the body. That’s something you don’t see on a baby that often.”
