Birth-drug babies in addiction peril

Sunday Express 5/7/98

WOMEN were warned yesterday that powerful drugs taken in labour could turn unborn babies into future drug addicts.

For doctors have discovered a link between the death of young addicts and mothers who take pain-killers which are said to be "handed out like sweets" in hospitals.

They found that mothers on drugs such as pethedine and nitrous oxide during labour were up to three times more likely to have children with a drug problem later in life.

The investigation could be the answer to why many young people turn so easily to drugs.

Pain-killers used during labour are mainly barbiturates and opiate-based drugs similar to heroin. They pass through the woman’s placenta into the baby’s bloodstream in the hours before birth. Some experts

believe the drug details become "imprinted" in the brain.

Bertil Jacobson, a professor of obstetrics at a Stockholm institute, said: "The information is stored in a person’s memory so that when they are exposed to similar drugs later in life, they are more susceptible." He is now trying to get other doctors to support further investigations into his claims which are published in the British Medical Journal. "This is a very hot potato and few people in obstetrics are prepared to face up to the problem we might have," he said.

Boys seemed to be more at risk

than girls because the male hormone testosterone apparently helps the imprinting process.

The discovery of a link has led to a call for less use of powerful pain-killers in labour and for a study by doctors in Britain.

The pressure group Association for Improvement in Maternity Services said it was very concerned about the link. "We have written to the Medical Research Council asking it to fund a British study as a matter of urgency," said chairwoman Beverley Beech.

She added: "Pain-relief drugs are handed out like sweets in hospitals and for doctors to accept that they might lead to later addiction is very difficult."

Experts in this country reject Professor Jacobson’s research. Consultant obstetrician Rupert Fawdry said: "The amounts of pain-killing opiates transferred to an unborn baby will be quite small and it seems unlikely that they could contribute to drug addiction later in life."