Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/YiI9buLkoCg

 

When women of child-bearing age undergo surgery, their postoperative pain medications often addict them to narcotics.   These dependencies then create a drug problem for their babies even years later.  

 

A study of 2.2 million Canadian births over the past 27 years concludes that neonates born to mothers who had heart, thoracic, urologic, or neurologic surgery were 1.6 times more likely to develop an opioid withdrawal problem at birth.

 

Young women may undergo painful procedures and are prescribed powerful narcotics for extended periods of time.  I echo the study authors’ pleas that surgeons operating on potential mothers soft pedal and, if at all possible, completely avoid use of opioids for postop pain control.

 

If you as a woman are facing such surgery, demand alternatives to narcotics including industrial-strength Tylenol possibly assisted by NSAIDs like ibuprofen and potentiating drugs such as the antihistamine Benadryl.  Be on guard, and avoid becoming addicted due to prolonged narcotic use.

 

Nathalie Auger, Nancy Low, François M. Carrier, Aimina Ayoub, Thuy Mai Luu. Maternal prepregnancy surgery and risk of neonatal abstinence syndrome in future newborns: a longitudinal cohort study. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2019; 191 (28): E779 DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.181519

 

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