Caring for Your Adopted Child by Elaine E. Schulte

Author:Elaine E. Schulte [Schulte, Elaine E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781610022156
Publisher: American Academy of Pediatrics
Published: 2019-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Prenatal Exposure to Substances

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that all adopted children be evaluated for possible exposure to drugs and alcohol in utero. Please know that pregnant women may use a wide variety of licit and illicit substances. Exposure to licit substances, such as tobacco and alcohol, and illicit substances, such as opioids, is more common among adopted children and children in foster care. Thus, it is helpful for adoptive families to understand fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and neonatal abstinence syndrome, 2 medical conditions that occur more commonly in adopted children.

Children who have had prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol are at a higher risk for problems with development, behavior, and learning. That isn’t to say that a problem will definitely develop, as I can’t predict who will be affected, but since the risk is increased, it’s important to understand possible difficulties. I have seen, however, and research suggests,1 that children who have been exposed to prenatal substances do better in a safe, supportive, stimulating, and nurturing environment.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.