using meth while pregnant II

[brknspirit]

I just read the original post and felt I needed to share my experiences, expertise, and lasting emotional trauma from personally delivering dead babies.

I am an addict, But I am also a damn good labor and delivery nurse. I have worked in the county hospital for years, seeing beautiful deliveries, (the loving families.) regretful ones, (seeing the childs future from the family that be or not be.), and the heart-wrenching ones, the ones the nurses fight over, not wanting the patient. WHY, because they were diagnosed with a fetal demise, dead baby....The docs never make these deliveries, maybe it's because they are too good to cry with the families......of course most have nothing to do with drugs......but to educate those who ponder the effects of meth, cocaine, or any stimulant for that matter, here it goes........all drugs effect babies, they all cross the placenta, narcotics do their damage, mentally, physically, emotionally, kids that become detached, violant, etc. alcohol does they same, only it wears a badge of dishonor,....fetal alcohol syndrome can be diagnosed at birth just at first site, (google fetal alch syndrome images to see physical features at............................................ birth.)........................................... .................................................. ..
there are no other drugs that threaten the lives of mom and baby than stimulants, meth, cocaine, adderall, ritalin, all other stimulants........stims raise blood pressure and heart rate...pregnant women have 300-500cc's more blood volume circulating in their system, just being pregnant causes increased cardiovascular workload.........we can escape death after years of stimulant abuse, but add increased blood pressure, pulse rate, during pregnancy is a double death waiting to happen............while blood pressure builds in mom, it builds in the placenta as well, the end result is called PLACENTAL ABRUPTION, basically the placenta is blown clear off the wall of the wound, the hose from which all nutrients are delivered, FETAL OXYGENATION, delivered via blood flow.........if the blood flow is nolonger fed into the wound, it becomes an uncontrolled free bleed.... it can be complete(fetal death), or partial, (Potential death). the point is baby is nolonger receiving oxygenation, and mom is hemmorhaging......this can happen without drugs, but rarely, unless mom is diagnosed with materenal hypertension, which is then monitored closely, so this event can be halted or dealt with in the hospital, but unfortunately when due to drug abuse, the mom is not monitored, and is not under hospital care....................the last point to end with, is a lasting one for me, I remember having to dress, pose, and eventually wrap beautiful twin boys, 32 weeks gestation(7.5 months) for their first and last photos before sending them to the morgue, thanks to cocaine(meth would result in the same)mom lived, but needed 13 blood transfusions, just to admit her to icu instead of the morgue..........to make matters worse, not all dead babies are beautiful, they to decay, not to be gross, but just for education, it is not uncommon to deliver a smelly dead baby that has a head with the consistancy of jello............I am so sorry, God knows I need some debriefing, dead babies and the uncontrollable emotional families does take a toll.............this isn't meant as a lecture or a shame on you, like i said, I AM AN ADDICT, but a damn good L&D nurse, And I know my business.

[angelgirl]

brknspirit

Well, I don't know how others here will feel about your post, or if it will remain in this forum, or if it will remail at all on SR, but I wanted to tell you that I feel the info.given is an importnat reminder for those wishing to become a mom, or a dad for that matter.
I full believe people should know truth, it should not be unknown.
I'm sorry for you that you havve to see this. although is it aa good reminder to you to stay clean? Are you clean? I guess I was assuming you are. You should recieve some counseling,, it has to take a toll on a person spirit, hence the screen name??
Thanks fo rsharing with us. I hope you get some help, just as you are trying to help here by sharing this, maybe it's time for you to stop and take care of yourself for a while..
Hang in there,
Love, Becky

[KelKel]

Thank you for sharing that Brknspirit.... admittedly a little graphic with my first cup of coffee this morning.
FAS is a very tragic condition and there certainly is a lack of information and education about its origins and prevention...I believe We can thank the "War on Drugs" for a lack of interest in
education and treatment.
One of my girlfriends is an ER nurse and ya'll see an aspect of society that is a harsh reality of the utter havoc drugs and alcohol wreak on our society (our selves).
I worry as well if she deals with all the trauma that she deals with on a daily basis....

Becky... I too believe that the "truth" is where it's at.


Ciao' for now...

[babeekj]

I thank you for giving a voice to the smallest of victims who can not speak for themselves.

[In memory of miracle]

How sad...but for the grace of G*d.

[brknspirit]

oops duplicate, i am a bad typist!!

[brknspirit]

thanks all for the replies....
today my sis in law was involved in an auto accident...it reminded me of some very important info regarding placental abruptions, she is 6mo, she was in a parking space at WA..gr..ns(not mentioning names, lol lol lol.....)when a W..l..g..ns 18 wheeler backed into here car pinning it into a fence, (she was wearing a seatbelt) despite her honking, and a man waving hysterically at the driver to prevent it from happening,...guess the ole' trucker didn't notice...THE OUTCOME...the car is crushed, she is resting comfortably in the hosp., has a few contractions although she is unaware of them, an inevitable outcome of trauma....THE BABY'S hEART RATE IS BEING MONITORED FOR NEXT 24 HOURS, the amount of time that you are at risk for placental abruption following trauma...the cops came ....ticketed the trucker, though he shamefully tried to pin it on her, guess he didn't notice that she was instead pinned against a fence and his truck...small detail,,lol...oh, ya, i guess he didn't notice the eye witness, oh that's right, he didn't, or it wouldn't have happened....i just wanted all to know the other situations leading to the abruptions, as my sis-in-law gave me a reminder....................................... as for my post,
.....i am so sorry for the gory details, i hope the moderators understand, this wasn't about placing guilt or shame...for two reasons..1. most fetal demises have nothing to do with drugs, 2. it could easily be me (educated on the matter as a l&d nurse) it could be anyone of us...because addiction has that strong of a hold.......
my sole intention is to stress the mortality related to stimulant use in pregnancy....forget the premies with dev. delays, the ADD to come, the fetal addiction/withdrawal scenerio, or crankiness, failure to thrive etc, etc,........the mortality is so much higher with these drugs than most others....and when presented with the signs and symptoms, moms may neglect care out of guilt...i just want "our kind" to be aware and get medical attention if they encounter this complication.......TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN..please do, it doesn't mean you are a shameless human being, or an unloving mom, it means you are a drug addict, you realize you are powerless, and YOU deserve to save your life and your baby's life.....*those who judge are the greatest of all evil!* OK?
RISK FACTORS/CAUSES, SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF PLACENTAL ABRUPTIONS:
drugs are not the only cause...The #1 cause is trauma, direct or indirect abdominal..ex. falling down, car accidents (esp. if the belt tightens) abuse(time to drop those guilty of), high blood pressure prior to pregnancy, pregnancy induced hypertension, diabetes, the most rare, is a spontaneous abruption, no apparant cause, ALWAYS GO TO E.R. FOLLOWING ANY TRAUMA, EVEN IF "YOU" FEEL FINE.
SIGNS/SYMPTOMS
abdominal pain, constant unrelieved cramping, or for those who have felt contractions, one that never ends, vaginal bleeding, rigid abdomen, may be from contraction, or internal bleeding, be very aware of your baby's movements, how often, like kicks per hour, type of movements, (vigorous? or just kicks)
yes i am clean...and the trajedies i see are grim reminders to continue on that path, but more so are my moms (patients) who depend on my sobriety, who need me clear minded.......that is an absolute neccessity....each one of them are like daughters i never had...i experience the joy with them cry tears of happiness,.....but worse as i cry now, i as well as most L&D nurses do cry the tears of sorrow when mom is told of the demise, then again upon delivery.....the best way i deal with it is to prepare the baby the best way possible to present to the family...to make the best possible photos for the family....if there are no family members present, i hold and comfort my mom (PT) and shelfishly myself, as we cry together.
God Bless you all, sorry so long, & by the way,...
I HATE TYPING! (high school typing class, last count, a pitiful 17 wpm, sad, sad, sad)
and i never review, so sorry for poor grammer and typos.
thank you all for being here, stay safe, i found that my greatest friends, and the greatest amount of caring, genuine, and loving people are those in recovery, i have been disappointed to see such a large % of those non-addicts to be superficial, judgemental, and just so shallow, for the smaller % of caring & loving non addicts we luv ya & need ya, thanks!

[tink360]

Your post brought tears to my eyes...i used meth and cocaine during my 3 pregnancies . i miscarriaged all 3. thank you...is all i can say...thank you...

[brknspirit]

God bless you Tink.
here's a hug, :hugehug i too cry with you, .:tissue i wish i could have been there for you.
your post script couldn't say it better, because had you not said it, i would have....move on as the great person you are today.:
we are all in it together!!!

[KelKel]