Home > Drug addiction in pregnancy: the Irish scene.

The authors of this paper present an account of pregnant Irish drug users attending the National Drug Advisory and Treatment Centre. The Centre was found to have reported a 503% increase in the number of new patients over the two-year period 1980-82. As these numbers increased, so too did the number of infants being born to addicted mothers, and the number of women who had had babies attending the Centre. The authors found that, since the opening of the clinic in 1969, 30 women had attended for treatment while pregnant, with a total of 38 babies born. The article presents a profile of the women attending the clinic while pregnant, including information on their average age, marital status, family background and drug history.