Did you know that drug addiction can have a serious impact on the unborn? Well, most people know this and others despite knowing the implications involved, tend to ignore the warning.
Women who engage themselves in drug abuse like their counterpart men, they are likely to develop many health complications. When it comes to pregnant women, the effects becomes more devastating. Research has shown that prolonged during abuse by the expectant mothers affects the earlier stages of fetal development leading to long lasting detrimental postnatal and prenatal effects that in most cases extend to the early childhood development and even beyond.
Addiction by the unborn to drugs
Women addicted to 
substance abuse and continued with the habit even when they are expectant may end up delivering a child with severe congenital anomalies.To make matters worse, that child might also become addicted because of prolonged exposure to drugs.Can you imagine giving birth to a child who is addicted to alcohol? How does it sound? Not good. So if you are drinking and you know that you are expectant, then you need to think twice.
Miscarriage
It has been proven that use of some substances by women who are pregnant can result in fetal miscarriages that may lead to more complications in the mother. Some of this effects include adverse headaches, high blood pressure, and seizures. Also, women who abuse drugs such as marijuana, tobacco or even prescribed painkillers are likely to face the risk of bearing stillborn babies.
Brain development of the infant
Drug abuse during the pregnancy period can negatively affect the brain development of the unborn. The extent to which this drugs will affect the brain development of the young ones is dependent on some factors. These factors include the number of doses, the properties of the chemicals of the drug that is being abused, and also the duration of exposure. One thing that you need to know is that effects that target the brain cannot be identified easily.
Death
This is one of the most dangerous and common effects those who abuses drugs are likely t
o face. Being drunk always lead to impaired judgment and those women who drink and drive are at a very high risk of destroying themselves. In addition, despite the fact that heroin withdrawal symptoms can kill the mother, it has the potential to kill the unborn.
Spectrum disorder
Exposure to alcohol by expectant mothers may lead to fetal alcohol disorder. Alcohol has been known to be a major nonhereditary cause of FASD in the most parts of the world. This disorder manifests itself through symptoms such as facial deformity, retarded growth, and dysfunctional of the central nervous system.