Hospitals across the United States are calling on volunteers to help with drug-addicted babies who need cuddling or touch therapy. These newborns have been exposed to narcotics in the womb because their moms abused substances like opioid while pregnant. These babies are already suffering from narcotics withdrawal within the first few hours of their lives.
Experts call this the neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), where the drug-addicted babies have developed different health problems related to the narcotics withdrawal. Experts believe that soothing cuddles would be effective in helping the babies overcome the addiction instead of subjecting them to further medication.
"Cuddlers provide them with additional comfort, as opposed to having to start an IV or give a baby morphine," Maribeth McLaughlin of the Magee-Women's Hospital in Pennsylvania said, according to WREG. Volunteer cuddlers also help the hospital staff attend to a growing number of NAS cases in the U.S. especially since their own mothers are likely not in the best of health and frame of mind to take care of the babies themselves.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there is a baby born every 25 minutes who could be suffering from opioid withdrawal or NAS. Experts have also done studies on drug-addicted babies from 2004 to 2013 to help medical workers deal with the growing epidemic, especially in rural and small-town communities.
A study in the Journal of American Medical Association, however, cites that opioid addiction among pregnant mothers is not exclusive to disadvantaged families. There is a small yet alarming fraction of moms from well-to-do families and urban cities who also give birth to drug-addicted babies, so much so that it has become a national health issue.
Cuddlers have been enlisted at hospitals since the '80s, not only for drug-addicted babies but also those who have been born premature or have to be confined at the NICU for an extended period of time, Philly reports. Those interested to share their time can look up the details from specific hospitals in California, Illinois and Pennsylvania, or ask their local hospitals.
