Cocaine Babies Research Paper

According to Drew Humphries (1999), congenital defects among babies born of crack/cocaine mothers has been a heavily debated topic since the issue came about in the late twentieth century. Some reports classified cocaine as a teratogenic drug that has serious birth defects while others say the effects are not as severe. One theory suggests that cocaine effects the central nervous system “where it alters the production of neurotransmitters, which in turn may interfere with tissue growth in the fetal central nervous system” (p. 54-55). Another theory suggests that, because cocaine is a vasoconstrictor, once it crosses the placenta, “it constricts the fetal vascular system, cutting off oxygen, nutrients, and blood supply necessary for the normal development of organs and tissue … and with it risk of internal bleeding or infection” (p. 55). Human studies were done and found that four birth defects were caused most frequently. These defects are affecting the genitourinary tract, the heart, the gastrointestinal tract, and skeletal development. Reviewers of the human studies were able to agree that the most likely teratogenic effect among crack/cocaine babies was urinary-tract malformation. In the early 1990s, reviewers applied tougher standards for identifying cocaine’s teratogenic effect and still found urinary-tract abnormalities still stood up to the higher standards. Apart from congenital defects, there are also neurobehavioral consequences of …show more content…
One example could be the differences in the infant’s age and health during the study, the differences in the drug combinations used by the mothers, and the the methods used in obtaining a mother’s drug status. another factor could be that the sample sizes were too small to obtain a theory to be applied to the population as a