Assignment: Evaluating Emergent Approaches To Research

As a social worker, what advice would you offer to women in their childbearing years who

frequently abuse drugs and other psychoactive substances? Despite these cautions, the weight of research evidence indicates that children born to mothers who use cocaine are likely to have neurological, medical, and cognitive deficits (Cain, Bornick, & Whiteman, 2013; Field, 2007; Mayer & Zhang, 2009; Richardson & others, 2011, 2016). Cocaine use by pregnant women is never recommended.

Marijuana An increasing number of studies find that marijuana use by pregnant women has negative outcomes for offspring. In a recent meta-analysis, marijuana use during pregnancy was linked to offsprings’ low birth weight and a greater likelihood of being placed in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) (Gunn & others, 2016). A recent study also revealed that marijuana use by pregnant women was associated with stillbirth (Varner & others, 2014). Another study found that prenatal marijuana exposure was related to lower intelligence in children (Goldschmidt & others, 2008). And one study indicated that prenatal exposure to marijuana was linked to marijuana use at 14 years of age (Day, Goldschmidt, & Thomas, 2006). In sum, marijuana use is not recommended for pregnant women. Heroin It is well documented that infants whose mothers are addicted to heroin show several behavioral difficulties at birth (Lindsay & Burnett, 2013). The difficulties include withdrawal symptoms, such as tremors, irritability, abnormal crying, disturbed sleep, and impaired motor control. Many still show behavioral problems at their first birthday, and attention deficits may appear later in development. The most common Page 59treatment for heroin addiction, methadone, is associated with very severe withdrawal symptoms in newborns (Blandthorn, Forster, & Love, 2011). Increasingly, buprenorphine is being used to treat heroin use during pregnancy (Krans & others, 2016).