Soaring rates of babies born with addiction to opioids - particularly in rural areas, new figures show 

  • Rural areas have seen 80% rise in newborns addicted to mother's opioids
  • That is almost double the increase among city-based families 

By Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com

Published: 11:18 EST, 12 December 2016 | Updated: 12:50 EST, 12 December 2016

Rural areas have seen a devastating rise in the number of babies born addicted to drugs, new figures show. 

Newborns exposed to opioids in the womb and who experience withdrawal symptoms after birth are more likely to have seizures, low birth weight, breathing, sleeping and feeding problems.

Ten years ago, fewer than one baby per 1,000 would be born suffering withdrawal from their mother's opioids in rural America. 

In 2013, that figure had rocketed 80 percent to around 8 babies per 1,000 births. 

Cities, meanwhile, saw a 30 percent rise over the same time period.  

While both staggering increases, the figures lay bare the devastating impact the current drug epidemic is having on poorer communities. 

Rural vs urban: The blue line shows the staggering increase in the number of babies born suffering withdrawal from drugs (also know as neonatal abstinence syndrome). The yellow line shows rates for the same condition but in urban areas

Unsurprisingly, rural infants and mothers with opioid-related conditions were more likely to be from lower-income families with public insurance.

And the study highlights that families in urban areas typically have wider access to treatment and addiction services that can help affected babies survive.

Researchers from the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University warn the study should trigger urgent action to help fund rehab programs for pregnant women. 

'The opioid epidemic has hit rural communities especially hard and we found that these geographical disparities also affect pregnant women and infants,' says lead author and Mott pediatrician Nicole Villapiano, M.D.

'Our study highlights an urgent need to fund providers and programs that will help improve access to opioid prevention and treatment services for rural women and children. 

'Maternal opioid use requires special attention given the poor outcomes and high costs. 

'If we can provide resources to the areas that need them the most, we can do more on the frontlines to address the opioid crisis for our most vulnerable patients.'

The opioid addiction epidemic has killed thousands of people in just three years, with the CDC branding the crisis 'unprecedented'. 

The study, published today in JAMA Pediatrics, highlights a dramatic and disproportional rise in opioid-related complications among rural pregnant women and their infants. 

In 2012, maternal opiate use in rural counties was 70 percent higher than in urban counties

The researchers tracked newborns treated for opioid-related issues over 10 years. 

Using national data, researchers found that between 2012 and 2013, rural infants accounted for over 21 percent of all infants born suffering withdrawal - which is also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome.

That is a significant increase from 2003 when rural infants made up only 13 percent of the neonatal abstinence syndrome cases in the U.S.

Geographical differences were mirrored by trends in national maternal opioid use, the study also found. 

In 2012, maternal opiate use in rural counties was nearly 70 percent higher than in urban counties.  

'We need to consider what kind of support moms with opioid disorders have in rural communities,' she says. 

 

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