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  • Essay / Drug Use Among Pregnant Adolescents

    Drug abuse, also called drug addiction or drug dependence, is the state of physical, emotional, and extrasensory dependence on a drug. Addiction usually occurs due to repeated administration of the drug to the individual, making them feel like they need the drug. When the individual withdraws from the medication or attempts to do so, a physical disturbance occurs. The existing article will examine the extent to which prenatal care is accessible and effective for adolescent drug users. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay According to Monitoring the Future, a study of behaviors and attitudes of young adults and college students funded by the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and the NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse), illicit drug use has increased regularly over the years in young adults. According to the study, 33.4% of young adults in high school and college use illicit drugs, 29.3% use marijuana, and 41.7% use alcohol. 60% of pregnant adolescents reported using multiple substances before, during and after pregnancy. Among adolescent girls aged 12 to 17 who are/were pregnant, 18.3% use illicit drugs and those aged 18 to 25 use illicit drugs. 9.0%. The major complication in drug addicted pregnant teenagers is to make them undergo proper treatment so that the baby can be healthy and the life of the mother can also be preserved. Public health professionals are looking for ways to implement the policy appropriately so that these women can seek help and, as well as different approaches to use to prevent drug use during pregnancy and subsequent relapses. One of the most pressing epidemics nationally is teenage pregnancy. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), adolescent girls between the ages of 15 and 19 had a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000. In 2015, adolescent girls in the United States gave birth to 229,715 babies. The birth rate for blacks was 9%, for Hispanics 8%, and for whites 8% (CDC). In 2016, the majority of teen pregnancies occurred between ages 18 and 19, accounting for 74% of all teen births. However, the birth rate climbed during the year and the 2016 birth rate among Hispanics was 31.9%, blacks 29.3%, and 14.3% for whites, for adolescents aged 15 to 19. As we can see from these rates, the birth rate has increased tremendously in just one year, which means we need to practice pregnancy prevention. Most pregnant or pregnant adolescents live in poor socio-economic conditions. The families these teens come from may have low income, low education, a family history of teen pregnancy, and live in poor communities that may have high rates of violence. These rates, although lower than those of previous years, remain significantly high compared to other industrialized countries. Teenage pregnancies are already high-risk situations, however, those involving drug and alcohol use increase the severity of complications and prevalence. A 2002 study by Julie Quinlivan and Sharon Evans examined the impact of drug use on teen pregnancy outcomes. The couple was studying the effects of drug useillicit studies on comorbidity, childbirth and birth outcomes. Medication use during and before pregnancy increased the incidence of preterm labor among this group and NAS cases. What the duo found was that 40 percent of the study participants stopped using drugs as soon as they learned they were pregnant or immediately before trying to get pregnant. The researchers were also shocked to find that among these girls, aged 15 to 19, 90% of the pregnancies were planned and they planned the pregnancy as a way to kick their habits and stop using illicit drugs. Although many mothers stopped using illicit drugs after conception, approximately 20% of participants admitted to illicit drug use throughout pregnancy. The patients all came from similar backgrounds, which could be a determinant of why teenage girls have such high pregnancy rates and drug use. The majority of the consumed population reported being socially isolated, having poor mental health, a history of domestic violence, and a poor environment. These environments encourage drug use so that they can escape the poor conditions they are exposed to on a daily basis. . It was also noted that 8-10% of the cohort contracted chlamydia, which could potentially harm the fetus. Based on the study findings, public health professionals should be able to provide safe spaces for psychosocial development and good prenatal care to reduce poor birth outcomes among adolescent mothers. Substance abuse has many side effects and can cause many complications in women's pregnancies, especially the still developing bodies of pregnant teens and their babies. Some of the complications they are exposed to are intrauterine fetal death, miscarriage, premature delivery, intrauterine growth restriction, placental abruption, fetal intraventricular hemorrhage, other effects and risks on the development and the most important neonatal abstinence syndrome.Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a series of conditions that occur when an infant withdraws from medications to which they were exposed during development in the womb. NAS is usually triggered by opioids, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and other medications. Intrauterine growth restriction, also called IUGR, occurs when the fetal weight is below the 10th percentile and covers two types. Primary IUGR occurs when the size of the fetal organs is reduced and secondary IUGR occurs when the head and brain are normal size but the body is smaller. Intrauterine fetal death simply refers to the stillbirth or death of a child in the womb. Fetal intraventricular hemorrhage is excessive bleeding in or around the ventricles or cavities of an organ. All of these cases are very extreme and can be prevented to ensure healthy babies born to drug-addicted adolescents through improved intervention and prevention. There are several approaches to helping pregnant teens who are dependent on drugs. Opioids are a leading cause of adolescent drug dependence and poor birth outcomes in their children. Opioid detoxification is one of many methods that can be used to help teens reduce their dependence on drugs. Opioid detoxification occurs when an individual abstains from the said drug. The professionals ofPublic health would prefer that women consider opioid detoxification and abstain from drug use for the duration of pregnancy, but this carries many risks. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Tennessee Medical Center conducted a study in which they evaluated the effects of detoxification on newborns of adolescents suffering from opioid addiction. Detoxification has been shown to cause fetal distress, fetal death, and prematurity. birth. The pressure to abstain from drugs can also cause extreme stress which can also lead to such birth outcomes. The goal is to ensure that these adolescents do not relapse. To evaluate alternative detoxification methods that would result in positive birth outcomes, a retrospective analysis was conducted. Bell J. et al shared shocking results. Patients were tested using four different detoxification methods. These methods included acute detoxification, inpatient detoxification with intense outpatient monitoring, inpatient detoxification without intense monitoring, and slow outpatient detoxification with buprenorphine. The results showed that among the participants, about three hundred successfully detoxified without negative outcomes during childbirth, however, 94 patients gave birth to babies suffering from NAS. The results illustrate to public health and medical professionals that detoxification can be a key approach to helping addicts. -dependent adolescents as long as patients are still monitored and monitored after birth. The goal then is to enable these teens to feel more comfortable asking for help instead of being discouraged, so they can ensure their baby is born healthy. The first step in making adolescents feel more comfortable seeking help for their drug addiction is for medical professionals to be as supportive and sensitive as possible to these individuals and their needs. Gabriele Fischer et al. found that for treatment to be successful, one must be able to offer assessment, triage, referral and coordination with healthcare professionals for their case. A 2006 study by Grella et al showed that psychosocial issues, or social factors that influence behavior and thinking, support is one of the most important factors for an adolescent to seek treatment. To be effective, these counseling sessions should be supervised by a health professional, a community professional and financial providers. The healthcare professional would be in charge of the patient's case and the team working with that patient would be properly informed and trained to manage young adults who are dependent on drugs. The local professional would be responsible for home visits and would provide and be a support crutch for the woman. There will also be support to help mothers with unmet financial needs meet those needs and find outside resources that can help them. The sooner a person seeks treatment, the more likely they are to have a healthy pregnancy and establish a better physical, mental, emotional, environmental and financial situation for themselves and their family. Maintenance therapy or medication therapy is one of the most effective ways to reduce dependence on drug use. This therapy involves drug replacement for drug addicts. The two medications that have been shown to be most effective for this form of treatment are methadone.