methadone effects on newborn

SmilingBluEyes · Apr 25, 2005

The "biggies" we have watched for were shakiness/seizures. They are at real risk of seizure, especially if not "weaned' properly. The problems can occur as late as 2 weeks after birth or longer. If a woman was on a methadone program, it should be known by her HCP's and her baby SHOULD have been monitored and weaned properly during the course of the hospital stay.

In the hospital, we keep the lights dimmed and noise to an absolute minimum so as not to excite the nervous systems of such infants, the risk is that great.

Also, be aware if the mother is breastfeeding or not, IF she continues on the methadone program, as the baby continues to get the drug via breastfeeding. Often, such women are discouraged from breastfeeding for this reason.

Honestly, this would be an excellent question for the NICU board, as they deal with this sort of thing much more than I do. I only do level-2 infant/nursery care and we dont' see this all the time, often these babies are "shipped" to Level 3 facilities for opiate withdrawal/observation. Brain bleeding, breathing problems/apnea, and other serious consequences must be closely watched for and treated promptly. There are many things to watch out for. Here is an article from Massachussets General Hospital that may guide you a bit more:

http://www.massgeneral.org/children/prof/NICU/syndrome.html

And another from Johns-Hopkins:

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/hmn/S03/top.cfm

hope these help a bit. I am a wee bit out of my league to get into this further but the NICU nurses are a GREAT resource for things like this. Fergus, et al., care to weigh in here, please feel free!!!!! You know much more than I do.