Intoxicated In Utero
Food Chain Radio Show #1215
Michael Olson, Author & Urban Farming Agriculturalist
Intoxicated In Utero
Guests: Alexis Olson, Child Mental Health Counselor, Austin Olson, Child Mental Health Program Director
Is there hope for children who were intoxicated in utero?
Michael Olson Food Chain Radio – Intoxicated In Utero
We’ve chronicled the impact to children, their parents and society-at-large of children with autism spectrum disorder. What makes the story of those children so sad is that nobody really knows why the children have autism, nor why the spectrum appears to be running wild throughout the population! It is a mystery.
But, there is another spectrum disorder by which children suffer, and there is no mystery as to why they suffer. It is the spectrum of disorders that children suffer from when they were intoxicated in utero as a consequence of a mother who consumed alcohol, drugs or tobacco, or perhaps all three.
This spectrum of disorders includes Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which can cause physical distortions of the child’s face and the cognitive deficiencies of their brains. On the other end of this spectrum are those who suffer from Fetal Alcohol Effects, which can leave children with the same deficiencies as the Syndrome, only less so.
There are syndromes and effects for any number of the intoxicants that mothers fall prey, from tobacco to meth and heroine. And there are a lot of intoxicated pregnant mothers!
According to a study titled, “Substance use during Pregnancy” published in the Harm Reduction Journal, 3.4 percent of all pregnant women admit to using illicit drugs and 3.4 percent admit to binge alcohol abuse. Combined, that’s over 268,000 binge-drinking drug-taking women carrying babies intoxicated in utero.
But, if you those numbers are sad, the real sadness can be heard in the stories of those who care for the children when they come into the world. And so we pause to ask them…
Leave a comment below: Is there hope for children who were intoxicated in utero?
Nationally syndicated Food Chain Radio airs live Saturday mornings 9-10AM Pacific.
