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Prenatal Opiate Exposure: Impacts & 5 Things You Must Do If Adopting

Accepting an adoption match for a baby that has been exposed prenatally to opiates or opioid painkillers is scary. Parents are full of questions about both the short-term and long-term impacts on this child and their family. Common opioids include oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine, fentanyl, methadone, and suboxone.

What are the Short-Term Impacts?

The short-term impacts of prenatal opiate exposure can include Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (withdrawal when the baby is born dependent).  The symptoms of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome include:

  • excessive high-pitched crying
  • difficulty being comforted or soothed
  • difficulty falling or staying asleep following a feeding
  • increased muscle tone
  • tremors / convulsions
  • excessive sweating
  • frequent yawning and sneezing
  • increased respiration
  • excessive sucking
  • poor feeding
  • regurgitation or vomiting
  • loose or watery stools

The symptoms typically start within 24 – 72 hours after birth and can last up to five days or more. Doctors have treatments that can help with the worst of the symptoms.

What are the Long-Term Impacts?

Research on the long-term impacts of prenatal opiate exposure is hard to obtain. The studies must follow the children for a long time and must tease out other issues that can also cause kids to struggle, such as being raised in a home where drugs are abused or where parents are addicted. Researchers also need to try to control for genetic factors such as IQ and ADHD.

Creating a Family recently did a radio show/podcast with Dr. Julia Bledsoe, a pediatrician with dual appointments at both the University of Washington Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Clinic and the UW Adoption Medicine Clinic. She did a phenomenal job of explaining what the research shows and doesn’t show.

The bottom line is that prenatal opiate exposure is less damaging than many other prenatal exposures, but parents must educate themselves and prepare well.

5 Things You Must Do If Adopting a Baby with Prenatal Opiate Exposure

  1. The #1 best thing you can do for this child is to provide a stable, structured, and nurturing home free from substance abuse and trauma.
  2. If your baby is born dependent and has Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), know that the symptoms of the withdrawal usually only last about 1 to 1 ½ weeks, and your presence and comfort along with proper medical treatment will make a difference.
  3. Follow this child’s development like a hawk and have the child thoroughly tested for learning differences when they reach school age.
  4. Be on the lookout for anxiety and depression as your child reaches adolescence and get help for your child and your family.
  5. If your child experienced trauma before or after the adoption, insist that she spends some time with a trauma-informed therapist. Healing can and does happen, but usually not without therapy. Creating a Family has resources on how to find adoption and trauma-competent therapists.

If you are interested in additional, practical tools for adopting a child who has experienced prenatal opiate exposure, this Creating a Family radio show/podcast will be helpful to you.