How prevalent is alcohol and other drug use during pregnancy?
• At least one of every five pregnant (800,000) women uses drugs, drinks or smokes. 9 • 5.5% (221,000) of the 4 million women who gave birth in the US in 1992 used illegal drugs while pregnant: 10 • 11.3% of African-American women; • 4.5% of Hispanic women; • 4.4% of white women. • Approximately 2.9% of pregnant women (119,000) smoke marijuana, 1.1% (45,000) use cocaine, and 1.5% (61,000) use psychotherapies without physician orders. 11 These are the most common illicit drugs of choice. • At some point during their pregnancy, 20.4% (820,000) of women smoke cigarettes while 18.8% (757,000) of women drink alcohol. 12 • Each year, women give birth to nearly 500,000 babies who have been prenatally exposed to illicit drugs. 13 • In Baltimore, Maryland, four drug-exposed babies are born every day — one in ten live births. 14 These infants are more likely to have low birth weight, impaired motor skills, delayed language development, hyperactivity and other behavioral problems. • Only 14% of
