More Windsor-Essex babies hospitalized due to mothers' addictions

KatieRocheleauhad already lost custody of her two other daughters due to heropioidaddiction. She was usingopioidsintravenously and living in a drug house when she learned was pregnant with her third daughter, Serenity.

Rocheleauwas put onSubutex, a drug used as a treatment foropioiddependence, early during her pregnancy. As a result, Serenity was born with neonatal abstinence syndrome.

Katie's experience is part of a trend being highlighted in a new report by the Windsor-EssexCountyHealth Unit.

Growing issue

Fifty-five of the 3,854 babies born last year intheWindsor-Essexregionhad to be hospitalized due to their mother's drug addiction, according to a report by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.

The rate of infants, aged 0-28 days, being hospitalized due to maternal drug addiction in the regionhasincreased over the past 12 years, according to that same report.

In 2003, the rate of infantshospitalized that were affected by maternal addiction in Windsor-Essexwas 1.9per 1,000 births.That rate shot up to 14.3 in 2014, according to the report.

In comparison, the provincial numbers for the same time frame were2.2, per 1,000 births androse to 7.8 in 2014, according to the report.

Struggling with addiction while pregnant

When Serenity was born she hadneonatal abstinence syndrome.

If a mother is takingopioidsthe substances pass through the placenta that connects the baby to the womb and thus the baby becomes addicted along with themother, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Serviceswebsite.

"She just had a little bit of the shakes and crying and stuff, " saidRocheleauin an interview with CBC News. "Luckily the low dose (of morphine) helped Serenity."

After a few weeks baby Serenity was weaned off morphine and seems to be doing fine now at 17 months of age.

Ask for help

Dr. Bill Mundle,the medical director ofmaternal fetal medicine at Windsor Regional Hospital,saidit's important forpregnant women disclose anydrug and/or alcohol use with their doctors so the medical professionalcanhelp the mother and the baby.

Mundlesaid women are becomingmore comfortable disclosing if they are struggling with addiction and that may partially explain the rise in infants being hospitalized for maternal addiction in this region.

Karen Waddell, the executive directorat the House of Sophrosyne, agrees women are more open about disclosing and seeking help for addictions.

"I think we've finally got through to women it's OK if you have a problem," saidWaddell, the head of a residential treatment program for women in Windsor.

This is part twoof a three-part series. Read the first part here.The series wraps up thisFriday,with a look at how law enforcement and social-service agencies are dealing with opioid misuse in this region.