alarming increases in the number of babies being born to mothers who regularly used crack cocaine during pregnancy. In an exclusive report, The Royal Gazette talks to one mother and probes how local authorities deal with a problem that has become an epidemic in the US.

Teresa E. cried and prayed every day for weeks after her baby daughter was born three months premature and weighing barely four pounds.

During her pregnancy, the 27-year-old single mother and ex-prostitute had smoked crack cocaine -- sometimes as much as $5,000-worth a week.

But Teresa's baby was lucky.

Now five months old, her baby escaped the horrific disabilities that could have occurred as a result of her cocaine use during pregnancy.

She has also showed no signs so far of psychological or developmental problems.

"I thought she would be born deformed,'' said Teresa, whose name has been changed to protect her identity. "And her doctor told me she had a 50-50 chance of living... But she survived and was able to go home with me after five weeks. I guess she's a fighter like her mother!'' So-called crack babies can be born with severe abnormalities, including no cover to the brain.

The number of crack babies being born in US cities is now reaching epidemic proportions and local health authorities say increasing numbers are also being born in Bermuda.

Usually born premature, they are often victims of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

They can suffer traumatic cocaine withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, vomiting, diarrhoea, shrill crying, excess mucus, convulsions, lack of sleep and no appetite. Teresa's baby suffered only slight withdrawal symptoms.

Crack babies can also endure lifelong mental and medical problems, including hyperactivity, sickness, short attention span, delayed development. Mostly because of her daughter's birth, Teresa said she has been "clean'' for five months now.

"I did it for her,'' she said, hugging her healthy new baby. She attends Addiction Services every week, sometimes standing in for her drug counsellor and conducting meetings.

But she never forgets the torment she went through during her pregnancy and after her daughter's birth as a result of her crack addiction.

Her biggest fear, as she watched her tiny baby fighting for survival in the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital Intensive Care Unit, was that social workers would take her away.

"Crack gives you false feelings, but after the drug wore off I felt terrible,'' Teresa said. "I got really depressed. I said, `I can't do this to my baby -- it might be the little girl I've always wanted'. But the seventh month when I decided I had to stop, she was born.'' Weighing just three pounds and four ounces, and dropping to two pounds at one stage, her premature daughter was kept in ICU for a week.

"I used to sit there everyday crying and thinking what have I done to her?'' she said. "I prayed every day and night to God that if he lets my baby live and nothing is wrong with her, I'll never do drugs again.'' Teresa's guilt about her actions led her to confess to Maternity Ward staff that she had used drugs during her pregnancy.

Since 1988, only eight expectant moms in Bermuda have admitted cocaine use to health care workers.

But the increase over the years has been significant and troubling, according to health officials.

Head of the Maternity Ward Mrs. Gaynell Hayward said that from 1988 to 1991, not one expectant mother admitted cocaine use during pregnancy, from 1991 to 1992 there were three, and between 1992 and now there were five.

Mrs. Hayward stressed the recorded cases were only those where the mother actually admitted cocaine use. There were many more suspected cases, she said.

"I told the hospital I used cocaine because if there was anything wrong with my child I wanted them to know why so they could help her,'' Teresa explained.

"The first thing I thought, though, was they're going to take away my baby.'' However, Teresa found hospital staff and social workers wanted anything but to take away her baby.

They helped her get social assistance, find an apartment and enrol in Addiction Services, although she had already decided she was going to sign up and "kick the habit for good this time''.

If Teresa falls back into her old habits, provisions have been made by Family Services for her mother to gain temporary custody of her granddaughter. Early in her pregnancy, when she was smoking crack regularly, Teresa did not realise the harmful effects her drug addiction could have on her baby.

An older sister whom she had always looked up to was a heavy cocaine and heroin user, but had had three healthy children.

That sister, who Teresa says got her hooked on crack, died of AIDS this year.

Through reading and television advertisements -- she was "too scared'' to ask her doctor -- Teresa eventually learned how harmful smoking crack was to her unborn baby.

By then it was too late, although she did try and get help. Teresa started using cocaine in 1988.

"I was at my sister's house and I saw her -- it looked like -- drinking smoke from a glass. She asked me if I wanted to try it and I told her yes. I used it on and off until the end of 1989, then I was hooked.

"I was smoking every day -- sometimes up to a $1,000 in one day -- or $5,000-worth in one week.'' Teresa got money for crack through "various ways'', including being a prostitute for three years. She even considered robbing someone.

As payment for sex, she would often get rocks of crack, which she would split up into smaller pieces and sell, making a substantial profit.

Most of her "johns'' smoked crack with her and gave her a few "hits'' for free, she said.

"The money I made, I could've owned a house,'' she said. "But I used it all on crack.'' Teresa said she tried attending Addiction Services, Narcotics Anonymous meetings and completed the three-week substance abuse residential programme at the Montrose facility.

She even moved to Somerset to get away from her drug dealing friends. But she was never able to kick the habit.

"I knew I had to do it on my own,'' she said.

She does not believe people realise the extent of crack abuse among Bermudian women, in all sectors of the community.

"If there was mandatory drug testing for business people, women would outdo men there are so many of them (cocaine addicts) out there.'' Addiction Services helped her in the end, she said, because: "I thought my story was terrible, but I learned there were people with just as many problems -- even worse. People have been a lot lower than me.'' The fact her younger sister and niece regularly attended family support nights was a big help, she added.

Teresa now lives close to an area frequented by drug pushers -- "they sell it across the street'' , but she is finally able to tell them "no''.

She gave away all the fashionable clothes she wore while she was a prostitute.

She has a steady job and a two-room apartment, as well as a good relationship with her daughter's father.

Teresa is still breast feeding her daughter, no matter how painful it is, because she knows it will make her stronger.

Even the sound of a match being lit brings back painful memories -- even urges, she says. But she continues to fight the urges for the sake of her daughter.

For the next year, Teresa will get twice weekly visits from a Family Services worker.

She also regularly visits and calls maternity staff who helped her through the rocky period after her daughter's birth.

Medical social worker Ms Jenel Swan said her biggest challenge was making mothers realise what their drug use could do to their unborn babies. And getting them to admit they are addicted and need help.

"We are very grateful when they are honest,'' Mrs. Hayward added. "The recorded cases (of cocaine abuse during pregnancy) are not representative of the true figure.'' After initial interviews with a mother who admits cocaine abuse, Family Services, Bermuda's child protection agency, has to be contacted, Ms Swan said.

Meanwhile, the social worker helps the mother get help for her addiction and secures social assistance for her if necessary.

Mrs. Hayward said it was important for the community to be aware of the extent of cocaine use and abuse in pregnancy in Bermuda, particularly with the worldwide trend of increasing cocaine and crack abuse.

She noted that according to statistics, 15-17 percent of all cocaine users are of prime child bearing age.

In America's inner cities, a staggering one in six babies is born addicted to cocaine or heroin, according to paediatrician Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, who visited Bermuda this month to give a series of talks.

He had urged local health workers to take steps now to stop the epidemic taking hold in Bermuda.