taken seriously and can no longer be ignored by the community.

Only last month, five drug addicted babies were born on the Island and the number threatens to grow, a paediatrician revealed yesterday.

Dr. Stephen West, attending paediatrician and head of neonatology at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, gave this message to Hamilton Lions at their weekly luncheon yesterday.

Dr. West said many people had a picture in their mind of the typical drug user but: "There is a group, however, who often go unseen or unheard because they can not speak for themselves or defend their own rights.'' He said that each year in the US, 9,000 babies were born to narcotic addicted mothers while there were 1.9 cases of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome -- the most common recognisable cause of mental retardation -- amongst every thousand babies born worldwide.

And there was no other time that the risk could be greater for these children, he stressed.

"The developing milieu of the unborn child is characterised by amazingly complex and intricate processes which can easily be disrupted by these substances and hence can have immediate, delayed and/or permanent long term effects on the child.'' Drugs such as cocaine and heroin, he continued, jeopardise the survival of these infants before and after birth.

During pregnancy there was a higher risk of stillbirth, miscarriage and premature separation of the placenta which, in turn, increased the risk of premature birth and brain injury because of the lack of oxygen.

The use of these drugs also caused fetal vascular accidents -- strokes -- and organ and limb defects.

And these babies also suffered a withdrawal period which could last months and faced an eight times greater chance of dying of sudden infant death syndrome and an increased risk of seizures.

Withdrawal symptoms included incessant crying, profuse vomiting and intractable diarrhoea.

But even "our legal drug'', alcohol, caused many of the same problems, said Dr. West.

It caused withdrawal symptoms, birth defects and mental retardation -- but these were dose and gestation related and the main problem doctors faced was finding what amount constituted a toxic dose.

Across the US, he continued, newborns had begun being screened without a parent's consent when there was cause for doctors to believe they might be affected by substance abuse but this raised major ethical issues.

However, Dr. West said, in his opinion, screening was in these babies' best interests and allowed them to receive the best possible care.

But this was also "the easy part'' because how could the problem of substance abuse affecting children be prevented, he asked.

Addicted babies warning Recognising the problem should be everyone's first effort and mothers should be made aware of how their actions affected their child, he said.

But, he continued, to solve the problem people must go deeper and create stronger family units which could help because children would be raised in an environment were drugs were not an option.

Raising a child was a parent's most important job and the dividends and returns were phenomenal if the effort was made, Dr. West stressed.

In closing he added: "One of my dreams would be that I never have to treat another baby with neonatal drug withdrawal.'' WARNING -- Dr. Stephen West HEALTH HTH