Effect of maternal consumption of cocaine base paste on neurological behavior of newborn infants

Abstract

Twenty newborn infants from mothers that consumed coca leaves' paste during pregnancy were compared with 19 controls as to their neurological behavior and supression evidences; the following alterations were significantly more frequent (p < 0.05) in infants from consumer mothers: Tremor, irritability, nausea, and depression of crying, suction and prension. The duration of these alterations as well as that of other neurological abnormalities was significantly longer in infants from consumer mothers. These findings reveal that neonates exposed to cocaine because their mothers consumed coca leaves' paste during pregnancy, reveal neurologic alterations as well as suppression signs that sugest a direct and lasting effect of the drug on their central nervous systems; these infants constitute a serious public health problem whose management requires decision and solid knowledge on its repercusions.