Quick Facts About Cocaine Use and Pregnancy

Brief facts about cocaine, pregnancy, and developmental outcomes for prenatally exposed children.

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Update on the Effects of Cocaine in Pregnancy

In the 1980's prenatal cocaine exposure was believed to cause severe and permanent damage to the developing fetus. Newspaper headlines talked about the "bio-underclass" that would be created by mothers using cocaine during pregnancy and many women were arrested in Georgia and in other states for "prenatal child abuse". Then the pendulum swung as it so often does. It became evident that the real effects of cocaine were not nearly as severe as had been reported at first and many people turned their attention to other issues. However, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) supported a number of studies, including one by this laboratory, that have investigated the long-term outcome in children whose mothers used cocaine, and other drugs, in pregnancy.

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Adult Substance Abuse and Treatment: Therapeutic Intervention of Cocaine Abusers
A recent study conducted by Dr. Sharon Hall and her colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, investigated the efficacy of both cognitive- behavioral therapy and 12 step programs. Results indicated that particular personal characteristics have an effect on which type of therapy is more effective in abstaining from crack/cocaine abuse.

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Cocaine Effects

May 2004 (Volume 4)

Cocaine and Sleep

October 2000 (Volume 1)

Neonatal Withdrawal

May 2002 (Volume 2) 

Emory West 1256 Briarcliff Road, Room-323 West, Atlanta GA 30306

The Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development Study is under the direction of Claire D. Coles Ph.D., with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Emory University School of Medicine. For more information, please contact: Claire D. Coles: ccoles@emory.edu ; Karen K. Howell: khowell@emory.edu