"Stigma" blamed for pregnant women not admitting drug use

[Ceolophysia]

Indeed.

Honestly, I don't really know what the best policy can be, since we need to balance both the need to make sure they get the treatment that they both need, while at the same time making sure that they don't do that again.

Decriminalize certain drugs, people on drugs might be more likely to seek help to not continue doing them while pregnant.

I agree. Making drug use less criminal and less stigmatized would help to fix this issue.

[Omakhandia]

Make abortion an easy, cheap, brief procedure nationwide and maybe I'll consider this.

[Imperial Esplanade]

Make abortion an easy, cheap, brief procedure nationwide and maybe I'll consider this.

Consider what, exactly?

[Albrenia]

Make abortion an easy, cheap, brief procedure nationwide and maybe I'll consider this.

Consider what, exactly?

Giving pregnant people drugs, I guess?

[Imperial Esplanade]

Consider what, exactly?

Giving pregnant people drugs, I guess?

I assume, but I've learned it's best not to play the presumption game over the internet.

[Albrenia]

This is the inevitable result of modern societies shifting standards. Used to be that good things were good, bad things were bad and shaming, criticizing and generally bothering people about something was THE way to make people not want to do bad things. Now a days everything is a life choice and you telling people not to do bad things just means you are a hater.

So why are we surprised at this? Seriously, why? It's the inevitable outcome of this sort of thought.

Uhm... this is about people not getting help specifically because they'll be condemned. So, permissiveness has little to do with the article's claims.

Child Abuse in this form isn't a new thing either, sadly. Although the availability of new and harder drugs obviously doesn't help.

[Yagon]

Decriminalize certain drugs, people on drugs might be more likely to seek help to not continue doing them while pregnant.

I agree. Making drug use less criminal and less stigmatized would help to fix this issue.

This seems to work in places that have tried it more. Substance abuse treated as a medical issue with proper resources seems to have better outcomes then "let's put them in a cage and fuck up their ability to get a job and socialize them at close quarters with other offenders and then release them ".

[Ors Might]

In cases where drug addicts find themselves pregnant, they should seek help kicking their addiction as quickly as possible. If not that then the best option is likely, regrettably, abortion to prevent any suffering on part of the unborn once it’s carried to term. The former would likely happen more if we were able to remove the stigma around seeking help for drug abuse. After the child is carried to term, then it’d probably be good if some qualified official were to determine whether or not the mother is fit to be a parent. In this scenario, the child’s wellbeing is paramount.

If a woman, knowing that she’s pregnant, decides to abuse drugs, however, then once the child is carried or terminated then she should be punished for knowingly endangering the child. What the penalty should be, I don’t know.

[MERIZoC]

So... doing drugs while pregnant is bad. Don't do that.

That said, the article is actually about women being afraid that their children will be taken away from them if they seek help for drug addiction. Rather then, as the OP suggests, just being afraid that they'll be sneered at or something.

A misleading title? On my forum?

[Oil exporting People]

That said, the article is actually about women being afraid that their children will be taken away from them if they seek help for drug addiction. Rather then, as the OP suggests, just being afraid that they'll be sneered at or something.

Because they should be taken away from them, as basic common sense would dictate; as long as the mother is addicted, she doesn't need to be around them, and taking them with her to a rehab center isn't all that practical.

[New Emeline]

That said, the article is actually about women being afraid that their children will be taken away from them if they seek help for drug addiction. Rather then, as the OP suggests, just being afraid that they'll be sneered at or something.

Because they should be taken away from them, as basic common sense would dictate; as long as the mother is addicted, she doesn't need to be around them, and taking them with her to a rehab center isn't all that practical.

So give the kid back after she's recovered

[Oil exporting People]

Because they should be taken away from them, as basic common sense would dictate; as long as the mother is addicted, she doesn't need to be around them, and taking them with her to a rehab center isn't all that practical.

So give the kid back after she's recovered

I'd be fine with that.

[Dogmeat]

That said, the article is actually about women being afraid that their children will be taken away from them if they seek help for drug addiction. Rather then, as the OP suggests, just being afraid that they'll be sneered at or something.

Because they should be taken away from them, as basic common sense would dictate; as long as the mother is addicted, she doesn't need to be around them, and taking them with her to a rehab center isn't all that practical.

You can't actually take an unborn child away from a mother. Well, you can, but they don't live very long.

[Oil exporting People]

Because they should be taken away from them, as basic common sense would dictate; as long as the mother is addicted, she doesn't need to be around them, and taking them with her to a rehab center isn't all that practical.

You can't actually take an unborn child away from a mother. Well, you can, but they don't live very long.

Outside of the womb was what I meant, but for the unborn the woman herself should be placed into protective custody/mandatory rehab.

[Dogmeat]

You can't actually take an unborn child away from a mother. Well, you can, but they don't live very long.

Outside of the womb was what I meant, but for the unborn the woman herself should be placed into protective custody/mandatory rehab.

So the OP did a pretty terrible job of explaining the article, but it is about how women with addiction who become pregnant are reluctant to seek help, because they are afraid of losing custody of their children if they admit they're addicts. So instead they try to kick their addiction without help, which tends to be less successful.

The article suggests that more women would seek help if they were reassured that they wouldn't be penalized for coming forward. Resulting in ultimately fewer cases of drug-related fetal damage.

It seems to me like your attitude is exactly the sort of thing they're pointing to as counterproductive. But this sort of thing is a bit outside my area of expertise, so I don't know if they're right about that or not.

[Mike the Progressive]

I agree completely. I think we can all agree it's immoral to expose a fetus to drugs, by using drugs while pregnant.

I disagree. I actually think it's cool to do.

But only if you want to be cool. Do you want to be cool? No, I didn't think so. Some people just are not too cool for school.

Also, caffeine.

[Mike the Progressive]

Make abortion an easy, cheap, brief procedure nationwide and maybe I'll consider this.

Consider what, exactly?

I don't know why but I found this really funny. Like it makes no sense, right?

[Imperial Esplanade]

Consider what, exactly?

I don't know why but I found this really funny. Like it makes no sense, right?

I can't decide if they tried to troll/flame the whole abortion debate with that, and just left without being amused, or what.

[Saiwania]

There should be a stigma. People clearly know that if a pregnant woman is neglecting herself via drugs or poor nutrition, that her baby is going to be harmed or not healthy whenever it is born.

[The Xenopolis Confederation]

CBA News: Don't STIGMATISE me for ruining me baby's life!

OP: Lock 'em up, lol.

You're both stupid, and I can prove it mathematically.

[Dumb Ideologies]

We need to stop thinking it's such a morally terrible thing to take drugs when pregnant in order to make it easier for people to admit and seek treatment, but when you reduce the message of condemnation they're less likely to be aware of what a stupid thing it is to be doing, which means you need to be more assertive about how bad it is, which means there's a stigma, which means we need to stop thinking it's such a morally terrible thing...

At what point do you go "can't win this game, just pay addicts to abort and get sterilised."

[Federal American Union]

So... doing drugs while pregnant is bad. Don't do that.

That said, the article is actually about women being afraid that their children will be taken away from them if they seek help for drug addiction. Rather then, as the OP suggests, just being afraid that they'll be sneered at or something.

Maybe their kids should be taken away and left with a stable foster family. I mean, you're hooked on narcotics and you're worried more about your kids being with you than their own safety?

[Ostroeuropa]

We need to stop thinking it's such a morally terrible thing to take drugs when pregnant in order to make it easier for people to admit and seek treatment, but when you reduce the message of condemnation they're less likely to be aware of what a stupid thing it is to be doing, which means you need to be more assertive about how bad it is, which means there's a stigma, which means we need to stop thinking it's such a morally terrible thing...

At what point do you go "can't win this game, just pay addicts to abort and get sterilised."

We could/should ensure a wall of separation between healthcare professionals and the law that allows people to seek medical help without concern for legal consequences, provided harm to others isn't involved.

A fetus doesn't qualify as "others" for these purposes, given that the personhood of fetuses isn't really upheld.

Stigma for intoxication while pregnant could remain socially despite that.

[Ifreann]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/tree-walsh-pregnant-women-opioids-1.4624831

Basic right and wrong tells you not to get pregnant if addicted to drugs, or not to get addicted to drugs if pregnant. But that stigma against drug use while being pregnant is now being blamed for pregnant women not admitting to using drugs instead of... I don't know, the fact that someone awful enough to do this is awful enough to lie about it.

Why not just screen fetuses and/or newborns for physical evidence of the mother's drug use, and once it can be proven, lock 'em up to send a message to any other pregnant women considering doing drugs, and/or any other drug addicts considering getting pregnant?

Yeah, why not just perform illegal, unwarranted medical exams on all pregnant women and then try to use the evidence from that to imprison them? I can't see that being an enormous waste of time and money, no sirree.

[Yseltna Dunya Private Isles]

If you are consuming drugs (by drugs I mean all the medecine you can't take while pregnant and shits like cocaine or cannabis) you don't even deserve to give birth because you are irresponsable as hell.