Delivering newborns is routine for workers at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital’s Birth Center, but in Athens County more so than other places, there’s no guarantee babies will be born in good health.
All too often, there’s no one to blame for this but mothers themselves, said Kelly Gammon, the center’s unit manager.
In 2011, less than one percent of babies born in Ohio were born with some sort of drug addiction, according to the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. But in Athens, the rate is about 10 percent.
“It's not really even a surprise anymore,” Gammon said. “It is upsetting for all of us because I do believe you are bringing a child into the world who has no control over what they’re exposed to. It’s difficult to see mothers who struggle with (addictions).”
Dr. James Gaskell, health commissioner for the Athens City-County Health Department, said in a previous Post article that about one in every 10 babies born in the county will enter the world with a drug addiction.
The symptoms of their addictions range in severity from diarrhea to seizures, Gaskell said.
Gammon said she believes county wide poverty is to blame. Many of the addicted mothers don’t have the education to realize they’re putting their babies at risk, she said, adding that the high addiction rates aren’t only a result of mothers’ misuse of illegal substances.
Almost 27 percent of pregnant women in Athens County smoke tobacco, according to a 2012 county assessment by the Ohio Department of Health. That is almost 10 percentage points higher than the state average of 17.8 percent.
Securing a mother’s health during delivery is just as problematic, said Ellen Martin, director of operations at Health Recovery Services, which works with expecting mothers who have drug addictions.
Drug deterrence programs for expecting mothers are available at health care providers such as River Rose Obstetrics, Martin said, but most mothers don’t think about nipping their addictions in the bud until it’s too late.
“People don’t really think about getting off of it until they are pregnant,” she said. “There are all kinds of medical complications that can come up when you are not 100 percent healthy.”
Although the health effects of maternal smoking are generally not as serious as maternal drug use, Kim Knapp-Browne, City-County Health Department tobacco education and prevention coordinator, said the habit can still cause sudden infant death syndrome.
Without a tobacco education program specifically for pregnant women in the county, Knapp-Browne said, smoking is still seen as a major part of area culture.
“They just don’t know the effects on that unborn baby, but we are trying to get that information out there and get them to quit,” she said. “It’s the culture, too. A lot of people do smoke.”
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@SamuelHHoward
