Last year, a study by the Perinatal Partnership revealed more than 1 in 5 babies in West Virginia are born addicted to prescription pills.
On Tuesday, health care professionals at Raleigh General Hospital said the numbers are still very high -- putting infants at risk for a host of problems, including delayed development and death.
"It goes from pain medication to medication for depression, sometimes even cocaine and marijuana," said Heather Buchanan. She works on the front line of the prescription pill abuse battle as a nurse at Raleigh General Hospital.
Buchanan said the casualties of the prescription pill abuse epidemic are unmistakable. "The cry is different. It's a very painful cry. It's definitely different than you would see if they were just hungry or needing to be changed."
It isn't just the babies and mothers born out of this epidemic who suffer.
In recent years, Buchanan said the hospital has had to stop administering narcotic rejection medication to newborn babies, a common treatment to relieve infants exposed to their mother's pain medication at birth.
However, if the mother is also addicted to prescription pills, Buchanan said the medication can cause the newborn to seize, a risk health care professionals at Raleigh General and hospitals across the nation are reluctant to take anymore.
"Our biggest struggle is getting honesty from the mother. It's important that we know what this baby has been exposed to so we know how to treat the baby," added Buchanan.
If the mother is honest, Buchanan said the road to recovery can begin for these babies.
But without it, the infants may spend weeks if not months in the neonatal ward, and a lifetime of challenges ahead of them.
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