GenInv – Health and Wellness

Methadone is a synthetic opioid prescribed to mothers during pregnancy as a heroin substitute as it helps prevent babies being born underweight or prematurely and helps addict mothers stabilise their lives.  In the study, it was shown that seven in ten of the children had nystagmus, involuntary shaking of the eye which is thought to be the blame of poor vision in some of the cases. 

 Twelve of the infants had to be treated for neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), where the babies bor

n suffer with methadone withdrawal symptoms; 35% of the twelve children treated for NAS had a squint and 30% were long or short sighted or suffered from other forms of blurred vision.  One in four of the babies suffered with brain function impairments regarding visual development and half of all the infants born to the mothers under examination had delayed visual maturation in which their vision had not yet fully developed, Dr Ruth Hamilton defines this as the children not being able to see in

such fine detail as their peers.

 A quarter of the children also displayed signs of other brain development impairments such as cerebral palsy.  During the study it was revealed that more than half of the babies examined had been exposed to illicit drugs such as temazepam and heroin while in the womb, which concurs with a growing and rather alarming trend, in which 11-16% of pregnant women are addicted to or regularly take harmful, illegal substances. 

 The link between methadone and its

effects on unborn infants is still unclear, or even if it is methadone alone that impairs visual development. Further research is being conducted to determine the nature and causes of the complicated developmental effects the drug has at eye level and brain level in unborn children.