Prenatal cocaine exposure affects child's growth

Prenatal exposure to cocaine may have a lasting effect on a child's growth. Past research has found that children exposed to cocaine in the womb tend to show a number of developmental delays and behavioural problems in childhood like language skills and attention span. Some studies, though not all, have also found that exposure to the drug may slow infants' growth — and the long-term effects have not been clear. To understand the relationship further, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine recruited women attending a prenatal clinic. They interviewed the women about any drug, alcohol and tobacco use before their pregnancy and during the first trimester. All women who reported any cocaine use during the first trimester were enrolled in the study, as was a comparison group that reported no cocaine use. Over the next decade, the growth of 224 children was monitored with measurements taken at ages of 1, 3, 7 and 10 years. It was found that children who had been exposed to cocaine in the womb were smaller at ages of 7 and 10 years.  It was also found that that those whose mothers had used cocaine during the first trimester tended to grow at a slower rate than their peers. On an average, these children were smaller in terms of height, weight and head circumference by the age of 10 years.   After taking into account other factors like smoking, other drug use and mothers' height, the results suggest that early cocaine exposure, itself, is responsible for the slowed long-term growth. It is an indicator that this drug has had a teratogenic effect. Teratogenic effects refer to alterations in normal fetal development. With any one cocaine-exposed child, there may be no obvious or severe growth delay. However, the overall difference between the two groups of children in this study was significant. Poorer growth can signify developmental problems. Head circumference is related to brain size, and can serve as an indirect indicator of developmental delay. However, further research is warranted to see whether the growth effects of prenatal cocaine exposure persist in adolescence.