Drug addiction, also called drug dependence or drug addiction, is the state of physical, emotional, and extrasensory dependence on any drug. Addiction usually occurs due to repeated administration of the drug to the individual, which causes the individual to feel as if they need the drug. When the individual withdraws from the drug or attempts to do so, physical upset occurs. The existing document will examine how accessible and effective prenatal care is for drug-addicted adolescents. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay According to Monitoring the Future, a study of the behaviors and attitudes of young adults and students funded through the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse), illicit drug use is increased steadily over the years among young adults. According to the study, 33.4 percent of young adults in high school and college use illicit drugs, 29.3 percent use marijuana, and 41.7 percent use alcohol. 60% of pregnant teens reported using multiple substances before, during, and after pregnancy. Of adolescents aged 12-17 who are/were pregnant, 18.3% use illicit drugs, and those aged 18-25 use illicit drugs by 9.0%. The main complication with drug-addicted pregnant teenagers is to subject them to the proper treatment so that the baby can be healthy and the life of the mother is also preserved. Public health workers are looking for ways to properly implement the policy so that these women can seek help and how as well as different approaches to use for the prevention of drug use during pregnancy and subsequent relapses. One of the most pressing epidemics nationwide is teen pregnancy. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 had a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000. In 2015, adolescents in the United States gave birth to 229,715 children. The birth rate for blacks was 9%, for Hispanics 8%, and for whites 8% (CDC). In 2016, the majority of teen pregnancies occurred between ages 18 and 19, accounting for 74 percent of all teen births. However, the birth rate increased over the year and in 2016 among Hispanics it was 31.9%, among blacks 29.3% and 14.3% among whites, for adolescents of age between 15 and 19 years old. As we can see from these rates, the birth rate has increased tremendously in just one year, which means we must practice pregnancy prevention. Most adolescents who have been or are pregnant live in poor socioeconomic conditions. The families from which these adolescents come may have low income, little education, a family history of teenage pregnancy, and live in poor communities that may have high rates of violence. These rates, although lower than in previous years, are still significantly high compared to other industrialized countries. Teen pregnancies are already high-risk situations, however, those involving drug and alcohol use increase the severity of complications and prevalence. A study conducted in 2002 by Julie Quinlivan and Sharon Evans examined the impact of drug use on teen pregnancy outcomes. The couple was studying the effects of illicit drug use on comorbidity, childbirth, and birth outcomes. The use of drugs during and before pregnancy has increased the incidence of laborpreterm in this group and cases of NAS. What the two came to discover was that 40% of the study participants stopped using drugs as soon as they learned of their pregnancy or immediately before trying to get pregnant. The researchers were also shocked to find that in these girls, aged 15 to 19, 90% of the pregnancies were planned, and the women planned the pregnancy as a means to kick their habits and stop drug use illicit. Although many mothers stopped using illicit drugs after conception, approximately 20% of participants admitted to using illicit drugs during pregnancy. The patients all came from similar backgrounds, which may be a factor in why teens have such high rates of pregnancy and drug use. The majority of the population used reported being socially isolated, having mental health problems, a history of family violence and an inadequate environment. These environments foster drug use so they can escape the poor conditions they are exposed to on a daily basis. . It was also noted that 8-10% of the cohort contracted chlamydia, which could potentially harm the fetus. Based on the study findings, public health workers must be able to provide safe spaces for psychosocial development and good prenatal care in order to reduce poor birth outcomes among adolescent mothers. Substance abuse has many side effects and can cause many complications in pregnancies among women, especially the still developing bodies of pregnant teenagers and their babies. Some of the complications they are at risk for are intrauterine fetal death, miscarriage, preterm birth, intrauterine growth restriction, placental abruption, fetal intraventricular hemorrhage, other developmental effects and risks, and the most important neonatal abstinence syndrome. Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a series of conditions that occur when a baby withdraws from medications to which he or she was exposed while developing in the womb. NAS is usually started by opioids, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and other medications. Intrauterine growth restriction otherwise called IUGR occurs when the fetus weighs less than the 10th percentile and covers two types. Primary IUGR occurs when the fetal organs are small in size, and secondary IUGR occurs when the head and brain are normal in size but the body is smaller. Intrauterine fetal death simply refers to the stillbirth or death of a baby in the womb. Fetal intraventricular hemorrhage is excessive bleeding in or around the ventricles or organ cavities. All of these are extreme cases and can be prevented to ensure that children born to drug-addicted adolescents are healthy through better intervention and prevention. There are several approaches to helping pregnant teens who rely on medications. Opioids are a leading cause of drug addiction among adolescents and poor birth outcomes for their children. Opioid detox is one of many methods that can be used to help adolescents reduce their drug addiction. Opioid detox occurs when an individual abstains from the use of the said drug. Public health professionals would prefer that women consider opioid detox and abstain from drug use for the duration of their pregnancy, however this comes with many risks. The Medical Center's obstetrics and gynecology departmentfrom the University of Tennessee conducted a study in which they evaluated the effects that detoxification had on infants in adolescents suffering from opioid addiction. Detoxification has been shown to cause fetal distress, fetal death and preterm birth. birth. The pressure to abstain from medications can also cause an extreme amount of stress which can also result in said birth outcomes. The goal is to ensure that these adolescents do not relapse. In order to evaluate other detoxification methods that will result in positive birth outcomes, a retrospective analysis was conducted. Bell J. et al shared shocking results. Patients were tested using four different detoxification methods. These methods included acute detoxification, inpatient detoxification with intense outpatient follow-up, inpatient detoxification without intense follow-up, and slow outpatient detoxification with buprenorphine. The results found showed that among those who participated, approximately 300 patients successfully detoxified without adverse birth outcomes, however, 94 patients gave birth to babies suffering from NAS. -dependent adolescents as long as patients are still monitored performed after birth. The next goal is to be able to make these teenagers feel more comfortable in seeking help instead of discouraging them so that they can ensure that the baby is born healthy. The first step in making adolescents feel more comfortable seeking help for their drug addiction is for health professionals to be as supportive and sensitive as possible towards those individuals and their needs. Gabriele Fischer et al found that for treatment to be successful, you need to be able to offer assessment, triage, referral services, and coordination with healthcare providers for their case. A study conducted in 2006 by Grella et al demonstrated that psychosocial, or social factors that influence behavior and thinking, support is one of the most important factors for an adolescent client seeking treatment. These counseling sessions, to be effective, should be supervised by a healthcare professional, an outreach professional and financial providers. The healthcare provider will be responsible for the patient's case and for ensuring that the team working with that patient is adequately educated and trained in the treatment of young adults who use medications. The outreach worker will be responsible for home visits and ensuring being a support crutch for the woman. There will also be support to help mothers with unmet financial needs meet those needs and find external resources that can assist them. The earlier they seek treatment, the more likely they are to have a healthy pregnancy and establish better physical, mental, emotional, environmental and financial situations for themselves and their families. Maintenance therapy or drug therapy is one of the most effective ways to reduce drug addiction. This therapy involves drug substitution for drug-dependent individuals. The two medications that have proven to be most successful in this form of treatment are methadone and buprenorphine. Individuals who have undergone drug replacement and maintenance therapy have shown tremendous improvement in their medication habits and have worked towards improved health. In 2014, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 7.7 million girls ages 12 and older qualified to receive maintenance treatment for substance abuse, however, only 1 .4 million of them received.