Wrecked over goddaughters pregnancy

Anonymous
All I hear from OP is “poor poor me” LOL. What a self centered b*tch. OP if you don’t want to help her, don’t, because your “help” is just superiority and judgement.
Anonymous
Dear OP, if the addiction in question is opiates, then there is a well established neonatal withdrawal protocol. Babies are given morphine by nurses following an assessment every 3 hours; it is called NAS scoring. The amount of morphine is gradually decreased as the baby navigates withdrawal. The process takes 1-4 weeks, starting at around 24 hrs of life on postpartum / nicu depending on the hospital set-up, and continuing in some kind of inpatient setting afterwards.

The truth is that even if your goddaughter becomes clean, she will likely transition from opiates to methadone. It will make her a much more functional person, but the neonatal withdrawal pattern does not change - it is as hard for a baby to withsraw from
Anonymous
Will CPS take her baby away for being addicted?
Anonymous
Continuing:

Withdraw from methadone as from oxy, fentanyl, and other street opiates. 

Since your goddaughter is keeping the baby, focus on her getting a LARC (long-acting reversible contraception), such as an immediate Mirena IUD.  Generally teen moms are open to that.
Anonymous
Recently, several hospitals were given an award by a MD safety committee for best-run neonatal withdrawal protocols.  I know Hopkins got one and 1-2 community hospitals.  Look it up because it generally implies the presence of a comprehensive program geares at young addicted mothers. DC maternity scene is complex at the moment due tp the closure of several L&D hospital units.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Will CPS take her baby away for being addicted?


Generally not immediately, but the family will be monitored.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Recently, several hospitals were given an award by a MD safety committee for best-run neonatal withdrawal protocols.  I know Hopkins got one and 1-2 community hospitals.  Look it up because it generally implies the presence of a comprehensive program geares at young addicted mothers. DC maternity scene is complex at the moment due tp the closure of several L&D hospital units.


thank you thank you for this info.

we are getting quite involved with Community of Hope and Mary's Place.

There is a lot of info ppl are asking about the gap between her parents death and now. She has spent the last few years technically under the care of an elderly grandmother. But she's been in and out of mental hospitals and rehab and quickly dropped out of a dc high school she was attending. she met her child's father at 90 day program for mental patients/drug users and they moved in together after they got out and it made an awful situation worse as I am sure you can imagine.

I am taking a break from all of this for the next week or so. There is of course the thoughtfulness I need to bring to my own family and tending to the ins and outs of my own small children, but from this week I was frequently reminded of the fact that I legally can't do much of this on her behalf. Phone calls and advocacy has to come from her or services won't be provided in most cases.

through my work I am quite aware of the awful maternity care situation in washington right now for poor women, and I have also been focusing on the incredibly precarious situation at HUD due to the government shut down and how this might affect her future, as she will need those resources. as this shutdown continues it will affect the most vulnerable among us.

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Will CPS take her baby away for being addicted?


Generally not immediately, but the family will be monitored.


Yes, I am terrified of the CPS situation.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Will CPS take her baby away for being addicted?


Generally not immediately, but the family will be monitored.


Yes, I am terrified of the CPS situation.


Your language is very anxiety producing. Your goddaughter might appreciate a more zen approach as I would.
This is not helping the situation.
Anonymous
I'm a foster mom and I love the well.meaning suggestions for neonatal withdrawl, but the outcomes for these kids afterwards is pretty bleak. Drug addicted parents dont operate in a vacuum. They soften make poor choices after the baby is born. Nobody ends up wanting these children, I know this as fact because many of these kids cycle through my home. Most people and I'm sure the OP and probably nearly all of you responding are not equipped and could not hack caring for these children born to mothers like this.

I see the after math and the destruction and it is not a Lifetime mivie.
Anonymous
I would make an appointment at your local Planned Parenthood and personally attend the appointment w/her.

This baby will have an awful upbringing if she decides to keep it.

No Father, an addicted Mother, life in the projects, etc.
Will probably be raised on welfare/food stamps/Medicaid, etc.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I would make an appointment at your local Planned Parenthood and personally attend the appointment w/her.

This baby will have an awful upbringing if she decides to keep it.

No Father, an addicted Mother, life in the projects, etc.
Will probably be raised on welfare/food stamps/Medicaid, etc.

OP already stated that the goddaughter decided to keep the baby. Is ‘my body, my choice’ true only when a woman is choosing what we think is the best for her? Are you really advocating for a forced abortion?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:So she’s an adult who wants to keep her baby. Instead of trying to convince her to abort, how about you be supportive of what could possibly be the biggest decision of her life? It needs to be her choice not yours. She will hate you the rest of her life if you talk her into doing something she doesn’t want to do.


NP-Sorry, but what she "wants" to do is pretty far down on the list of things to consider.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So she’s an adult who wants to keep her baby. Instead of trying to convince her to abort, how about you be supportive of what could possibly be the biggest decision of her life? It needs to be her choice not yours. She will hate you the rest of her life if you talk her into doing something she doesn’t want to do.


NP-Sorry, but what she "wants" to do is pretty far down on the list of things to consider.


Her body, her choice.

Are you advocating for someone other than the mother to decide when an abortion is appropriate or not?
SR_fox
Member Offline
Is your goddaughter still addicted? I gather she’s had treatment.
The matter is my fourteen years daughter is addicted too, thus I know firsthand how difficult it's to persuade such teens to make a rational decision.
When I talked about the treatment she wouldn’t object at once, but then she disappeared for a week. As it turns out, she’s embarrassed about this. Wouldn’t have thought she could be ashamed of something. Searching for the way of this situation, I finally found the information about special rehabs for teens here https://addictionresource.com/drug-rehab/teen/ and want to try, she'll be more comfortable with peers, I guess. Maybe this info can be helpful for you too.
Good luck!
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