Exploring The Effect of Maternal Heroin Use: A Case Study on Long-Term Neonatal Learning Outcomes

Abstract

Heroin has become one of the most used opioid drugs by pregnant women and is an increasing concern to obstetricians. Heroin use has major social and medical implications and, when used during pregnancy, it has adverse effects on the mother, the fetus and the new-born child. Children who are exposed to maternal heroin use reveal a delay in cognitive function at 3 years of age, lower verbal ability, reading and math skills, and delayed acquisition of motor milestones. The current study explores the relationship of maternal heroin use on neonatal learning development and outcomes. A four-month illustrative case study was conducted with one nine-year-old male participant, who displayed significant learning deficits in reading, writing and mathematics. His biological mother was inducing heroin throughout her pregnancy and, at five weeks old, he was adopted and situated into a new home with his current adoptive mother. Interviews were administered to the child and adoptive mother, and a data analysis of medical records and elementary provincial academic report cards was conducted. The results suggest an evident negative effect of maternal heroin use on cognitive development but limited long-term effect due to early adoption and a significant amount of support systems. Overall, the results of this study influence adoptive parents, foster homes and any environments that a child who was prenatally exposed to heroin has now been situated in. This research also fills a gap in the current limited research on prenatal heroin exposure.