Category: Neonates
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Why Neonatal Drug Testing is Essential for Infant Health
When I check my blood pressure on my own at my local Meijer or CVS, it’s more than fine. However, I have white coat syndrome, which means that nearly every time I have my blood pressure checked at the doctor’s office, it’s unreasonably high. But you know what that doesn’t mean? It doesn’t mean that…
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Understanding Fetal Fentanyl Syndrome: A Growing Concern
Prenatal Fentanyl Exposure is the latest in the list of drugs, including alcohol, of course, causing abnormalities among newborns. We first heard about Fetal Fentanyl Syndrome in 2023 (Science). In contrast, we first heard about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in 1973, but later we learned about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders that don’t have the sentient…
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Universal Testing for Neonates: A Crucial Need
We know the government is here to help, but the unintended consequences of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) may make it one of the lousiest pieces of legislation ever passed – and amended and amended again. It’s like we’re trying to polish a turd. We know that drug testing is rife with…
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Prenatal Substance Exposure: A Growing Crisis
“Nearly 1 in 12 newborns in the United States in 2020 – or about 300,000 infants – were exposed to alcohol, opioids, marijuana or cocaine before they were born. Exposure to these substances puts these newborns at a higher risk for premature birth, low birth weight and a variety of physical and mental disabilities” (The Conversation). Unfortunately, this number…
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Prenatal Substance Exposure: A Neglected Health Crisis
Urine drug tests can be done for every patient in every hospital…but they aren’t. And that lack of testing everyone who is hospitalized could be considered discriminatory, especially when the group of patients all being tested, under the guise of not discriminating, is pregnant people, as if pregnant people are the only ones who may…
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Mandatory Reporting in Healthcare: The Prenatal Dilemma
Imagine that you’re a person working in the healthcare profession…perhaps a nurse or a doctor. And think about what caused you to go to school for all those extra years. Was it the desire to have lots of student debt? Maybe it was working all those hours, especially on weekends and holidays… Or perhaps it…
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When Medication Becomes a Hammer
I learned something new today…sort of. In part, CAPTA, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, “provides federal funding and guidance to States in support of prevention, assessment, investigation, prosecution, and treatment activities and also provides grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations, including Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, for demonstration programs and projects” (childwelfare…
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PEth Screening: Essential Tool for Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Recognition
Look! The Finnish results are in, and it is clear that asking about alcohol consumption during pregnancy doesn’t yield accurate results. In fact, of the 3,000 samples tested, positive Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) results during pregnancy were 8.4% or 253 individuals, despite self-reporting alcohol consumption being as low as 1.9% in 2020 but as high as 14% in 2017.…
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Krabbe? Cancer? FASD?
We’re talking about screening for a lifelong condition that can’t be cured that conservatively affects 5% of the population…1 in 20 live births!
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Racial Disparities in Newborn Drug Testing and Prenatal Care
What would a pregnant person on the verge of delivering a baby say if she were asked if she has a history of drug abuse within the last 12-18 months? How about if she’s asked about her history of child abuse, neglect, or court-ordered placements of children outside the home? History of domestic abuse or…
Guided by Guida 