Fetal drug exposure

Question

My daughter is 11 months old and she seems OK. Her mom did meth, crack, pills, alcohol and weed while she was pregnant. She did it mostly in the first few months and then she got her act together a bit but she still had some relapses all the way through. How long will I have to wait before I can know whether or not the drugs her mom did have harmed her or not?

Rachel Starck · Accepted Answer

There is no set time by which we can say that a baby/child is not affected negatively by fetal drug or alcohol exposure. It sounds like she is meeting developmental milestones with in normal range, and your docter is not overly concerned at this point. Subtle differences in development, growth, and learning disabilities may show up later as she enters school. Aside from providing her with love, nurturing, medical care and all else that comes with being an attentive parent, I would just keep her prenatal history in the back of your mind, should concerns come up down the road. There are excellent resources online for parents of FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome)and FAE (fetal alcohol effects) children, so doing some proactive research may be helpful for you as you raise her!

Kind regards,

Rachel Starck, LPC

www.thethrivingmama.com

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