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Drugs: Babies

Volume 492: debated on Friday 15 May 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many babies were born with a diagnosed addiction to drugs (a) in each year since 1997 and (b) in each primary care trust area in the last year for which figures are available; (272786)

(2) how many babies received treatment for (a) drug addiction and (b) alcohol problems arising from their mother's use of such substances during pregnancy (i) in each year since 1997 and (ii) in each primary care trust area in the last year for which figures are available.

Data on the number of babies treated for alcohol problems arising from their mother’s use of alcohol are not collected centrally.

The following tables show the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) where the primary or secondary diagnosis was either neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs of addiction or withdrawal from therapeutic use of drugs in newborns. The baby is not diagnosed as addicted, but as withdrawing from the mother’s addiction.

It is not possible to provide information on the type of drug the newborn child is withdrawing from.

It is unclear whether there has been a real rise in the number of babies born suffering from the mother’s addiction, as we suspect that a better awareness of drug misuse has lead to an increase of awareness and identification. Improved engagement with pregnant drug addicted women by the national health service and improvements in treatment for drug addiction may have allowed more women to conceive and/or carry a pregnancy to full term.

Count of cases (finished consultant birth episodes) with a primary or secondary diagnosis of neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs for the period 1997-98 to 2007-08

Total finished consultant birth episodes

2007-08

1,230

2006-07

1,211

2005-06

1,210

2004-05

1,192

2003-04

1,156

2002-03

1,054

2001-02

933

2000-01

926

1999-2000

924

1998-99

909

1997-98

751

Count of cases (finished consultant episodes) with a primary or secondary diagnosis of neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs by primary care trust (PCT) of residence for the period 2007-08

Current PCT of residence description

Total finished consultant birth episodes

Unknown

575

Bromley PCT

*

Barnet PCT

*

Hillingdon PCT

*

Enfield PCT

*

Barking and Dagenham PCT

*

City and Hackney Teaching PCT

*

Tower Hamlets PCT

*

Newham PCT

*

Haringey Teaching PCT

*

Blackburn with Darwen PCT

7

Herefordshire PCT

*

North Tyneside PCT

*

Hartlepool PCT

*

North Tees Teaching PCT

*

North Lincolnshire PCT

12

Nottingham City PCT

*

Salford PCT

9

Stockport PCT

*

Portsmouth City Teaching PCT

*

Luton PCT

11

Rotherham PCT

6

Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT

14

Blackpool PCT

8

Bolton PCT

*

Ealing PCT

*

Warrington PCT

*

Oldham PCT

7

Calderdale PCT

*

Barnsley PCT

*

Bury PCT

*

Brent Teaching PCT

*

Camden PCT

*

Islington PCT

7

Sunderland Teaching PCT

*

Southampton City PCT

*

Medway PCT

8

Westminster PCT

*

Southwark PCT

*

Lewisham PCT

*

Tameside and Glossop PCT

*

Brighton and Hove City PCT

9

South Birmingham PCT

*

Shropshire County PCT

*

Walsall Teaching PCT

*

Sutton and Merton PCT

6

North Somerset PCT

*

Telford and Wrekin PCT

*

Wolverhampton City PCT

*

Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT

7

Leeds PCT

31

Kirklees PCT

*

Wakefield District PCT

11

Sheffield PCT

15

Derbyshire County PCT

9

Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT

10

Lincolnshire Teaching PCT

*

Redbridge PCT

*

Waltham Forest PCT

*

County Durham PCT

*

Cumbria Teaching PCT

*

North Lancashire Teaching PCT

6

Central Lancashire PCT

8

East Lancashire Teaching PCT

12

Sefton PCT

*

Wirral PCT

*

Liverpool PCT

11

Halton and St. Helens PCT

7

Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT

8

Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT

7

Manchester PCT

17

North Yorkshire and York PCT

*

East Riding of Yorkshire PCT

*

Hull Teaching PCT

*

Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT

21

South East Essex PCT

*

Bedfordshire PCT

17

East and North Hertfordshire PCT

*

Surrey PCT

*

West Sussex PCT

*

East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT

*

Hastings and Rother PCT

*

West Kent PCT

*

Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT

6

Leicester City PCT

12

Northamptonshire Teaching PCT

8

Dudley PCT

6

Sandwell PCT

9

Birmingham East and North PCT

8

South Staffordshire PCT

*

Worcestershire PCT

*

Warwickshire PCT

*

Peterborough PCT

*

Cambridgeshire PCT

*

Norfolk PCT

*

Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT

*

Suffolk PCT

6

West Essex PCT

*

North East Essex PCT

9

South West Essex PCT

*

Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT

*

Hampshire PCT

7

Buckinghamshire PCT

9

Oxfordshire PCT

*

Berkshire West PCT

11

Berkshire East PCT

7

Bristol PCT

33

Wiltshire PCT

*

Dorset PCT

*

Bournemouth and Poole Teaching PCT

24

Devon PCT

*

Isle of Wight NHS PCT

*

Powys LHB

*

Northumberland Care Trust

*

Torbay Care Trust

8

North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus

11

Total

1,230

Notes:

ICD-10 diagnosis codes used:

P96.1 Neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs of addiction.

P96.2 Withdrawal symptoms form therapeutic use of drugs in newborn.

Low numbers

Due to reasons of confidentiality, figures between one and five have been suppressed and replaced with ‘*’ (an asterisk).

Ungrossed data

Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).

Source:

Hospital Episode Statistics, The Information Centre for health and social care.