Children of drug addicts are the hidden victims of drug abuse, with the mortality rate of children aged six and under whose parents are addicted to opioids being 2.3 times higher than other children their age, a National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) study showed.
A research team found that children of people with opioid use disorders have a higher mortality rate before the age of six.
The mortality rate of children with mothers who have an opioid use disorder is 3.9 times higher than those whose mothers do not have a drug habit, the study found, while children of drug addicts are about 4.2 times more likely to die an unnatural death.
The study examined data from 3,210 children born to parents with opioid addictions between 2004 and 2009 — with about one-quarter having been born after the mother enrolled in methadone treatment — and linked it with data from the National Health Insurance database and death registrations, said Chen Chuan-yu (陳娟瑜), a researcher at the institutes’ Center for Neuropsychiatric Research who took part in the study.
“Pregnant women who use heroin have a two to fourfold higher risk of premature birth, as well as increased risks of weight loss and stillbirth,” Chen said.
Increased mortality might also have stemmed from the mother neglecting the child, having developed other diseases from drug use that affected the fetus, or her opioid use contaminating her breastmilk, Chen said.
Children with a mother who uses heroin tend to miss out on prenatal checkups, as the mother is afraid that the police will discover her addiction, and seldom receive proper care, as the mother often ends up in prison and her child being entrusted to the care of others, Taiwan Care Management Association chairperson Chang Shu-hui (張淑慧) said.
Such children are typically not in a safe environment, as child abuse easily occurs when the child is exposed to those on drugs or entrusted to other people, and often lack resources, as their mothers spend a lot of money on drugs or are imprisoned, Chang said.
Some mothers who are imprisoned for illegal drug use take their children to prison with them, but the abnormal life in jail and a lack of cultural stimulation can cause the children to suffer developmental delays, she said.
The researchers said the government should help drug-addicted women of child-bearing age, with prenatal and postnatal checkups.
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