Maternal cocaine use threatens the infant’s health

Cocaine can constrict blood vessels. Vasoconstriction reduces the blood supply to the placenta, which prevents the fetus from getting enough oxygen. (NIDA) Cocaine as a kind of drug, not only harms the maternal but also brings a series of problems to the newborn. For example, when women use cocaine during pregnancy, the fetus will also take it. When the mother is addicted to using cocaine, the fetus will be addicted as well. Cocaine penetrates into the baby’s body through mother，and then affects the infant’s regulatory behavior. Prenatal cocaine use seriously harms the growth and development of the infant.

Cocaine abuse during pregnancy causes serious consequences for the fetus. Drugs can enter the fetus through the placenta and directly damage the fetus. Newborns exposed to cocaine during pregnancy may appear after birth: grow defects, premature birth, and even miscarriage.  More importantly, maternal cocaine abuse during pregnancy is related to children’s regulatory behavior. In a study in The Association Between Maternal Cocaine Use During Pregnancy and Physiological Regulation in 4- to 8-Week-Old Infants: An Examination of Possible Mediators and Moderators by  Schuetze et al., researchers examine the relationship between prenatal exposure to cocaine and infant regulation, specifically in the performance of HR and RSA.

The use of cocaine during pregnancy will damage the development of infants’ self-regulating skills.  HR and RSA are the important indexes of infant self-regulation.  Such as the higher HR stands for the higher level of physiological arousal, which impacts infants response to stimuli. On the contrary, higher arousal means lower stimuli. In the RAS,  higher RSA is related to better emotional regulation. The Lower RSA means bad emotional regulation.

  Dr. Schuedze runs an experiment devoted to projects as varied as age, education, race, etc. in order to examine infants’ regulatory behaviors on the performance of HR and RSA.  He conducted the study with Dr. Eiden. The study divided into two groups of participants, which are 77 cocaine-exposed of mather-infant and 64 none cocaine-exposed of mather-infant. The whole experiment was conducted by taking hair and urine samples of contestants. For example, if the amount of the drug or metabolite is greater than 300 g/mL, then the urine is considered positive. For the hair sample, drugs and metabolites can be extracted and measured by the hair.

Through the analysis of the data of related items, Dr. Schuetze and Dr. Eiden found several discoveries. They found that prenatal exposure to cocaine is related to the mother’s age. In addition, women who did not use cocaine during pregnancy have more prenatal care, high education, and high SES. But age is not related to the performance of HR and RSA. Heavy cocaine user who consumes more alcohol and smokes cigarettes during pregnancy. However, Those substances are not related to infants’ HR and RSA. Infants’ BW, BL, and HC are related to prenatal cocaine exposure. But, BL and HC are not related to the performance of HR and RSA. Only infants’ BW correlates with prenatal cocaine exposure rather than  BL and HC. Infants’ exposure to cocaine were born with lower body weight than those without exposure to cocaine. As a result, infants who use a lot of cocaine during pregnancy have lower weight and higher heart rate.

 BW is an important factor that influences the performance of HR and RSA. BW has significant in fetus development and growth, which is an indicator of prenatal cocaine exposure and infant regulation. The effect of prenatal cocaine exposure on infant regulation provides evidence and indicates that infants’ physiological regulation is through BW control. In particular, infants exposed to cocaine with the greatest weight loss and higher levels of arousal at 4-8 weeks of age. Infants who exposed to the higher cocaine content have higher HR, compared to those who exposed to lower cocaine content. At the same time, the RSA of infants exposed to large amounts of cocaine during pregnancy is reduced. These findings are particularly important. Prenatal cocaine exposure can cause neurological damage in the infant groups with higher HR and lower RSA.

Additionally, Dr. Schuedze and Dr. Eiden proposed the reason, due to differences in gestational age, infants of different ages have different levels of HR and RSA performance, resulting in physiological immaturity. This study only examines 4weeks to 8-Week-Old Infants who exposed to cocaine instead of examining different age groups. However,  Dr. Schuedze and Dr. Eiden bring a major discovery that they presented the relationship between prenatal cocaine exposure and infant physiological regulation, which can be shown by body weight. That means infants who exposed to large amounts of cocaine have high HR and slightly lower RSA. Use cocaine during pregnancy seriously harms the growth of the infants.

                                                                                Reference

1. Schuetze Pamela, Eiden D. Rina. Mar 23, 2005. The Association Between Maternal Cocaine Use During Pregnancy and Physiological Regulation in 4- to 8-Week-Old Infants: An Examination of Possible Mediators and Moderators. J Pediatr Psychol. 31(1): 15–26. [cited 2020 June 14]; Available from:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3093101/

2. NIDA. 2020, May 28. Cocaine DrugFacts. [cited 2020 June 14]; Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/cocaine

Peer Review

Peer Editing Worksheet—General Audience Paper

1.  Is the title specific and engaging?
Yes, the title is specific and engaging. It’s straight to the point and captures the overall theme/topic of the paper well.

2. Is the problem or research question sufficiently introduced? Is relevant history or background information included?

Yeah, the introduction greatly gave me a brief explanation of what the topic being addressed and the implications. The explanations are thorough and very informative.

3.  What is the tone or kind of appeal used (wonder or application)? Give an example (word, phrase, or sentence) that creates tone/appeal.

I get a feeling of an overall serious tone, and the article uses an application appeal. Words like “seriously” and “harmful” are used.

4. Are any adaptation techniques used (e.g., narration, examples, similes, or metaphors)?

Narration is used quite a bit. Other adaptation techniques are not necessary since the topic chosen is so easily understood by the general audience. I would say use more examples, but it’s not a biggie.

5. Are moral/economic/political considerations addressed? If not, can you make a suggestion?

There are DEFINITELY moral considerations addressed. No suggestions here.

6. Are sentences concise? Are unnecessary words/phrases/sentences used? Mark examples on the paper.

The sentences are very concise and very informative. Words like ‘especially’ in the last paragraph can be cut (or swapped with ‘specifically’) if you want to go with a more informal tone.

7.  Are there any grammar, spelling, or punctuation mistakes? Mark examples in the paper.

There are practically no grammar, spelling, or punctuation mistakes. Again, some words could be cut for a different effect, but it’s not needed.