[ad_1]
A mother whose breastfed baby was severely affected by methamphetamine was found guilty of intentionally behaving in a way that caused suffering or injury.
The woman, whose name is suppressed, was found guilty in a reserved decision issued by Judge Lawrence Hinton this week following a single-judge trial in Hastings District Court earlier this year.
The child was born in late 2016, when the woman was in her early twenties.
The baby was admitted to Hawke’s Bay Hospital when he was 3 months old due to restlessness. Concerns about his behavior led to a urine toxicology test. He tested positive for methamphetamine.
READ MORE:
* Oranga Tamariki: How far has he come and where does he have to go from here?
* Appeal of sentence of woman for supply of methamphetamine, dismissed
* Methamphetamine dealer’s $ 500-a-week ‘tragic’ habit cost him custody of his children and his job
Nine days later, the baby was readmitted after an ambulance was called to the woman’s home because the baby suffered from stiffness, lack of response and a 30-second pause to breathe.
A second urine test was positive.
Subsequently, the police charged the woman with a representative charge of “intentionally engaging in conduct that may cause suffering or injury, or adverse side effects to the child’s health, such conduct being a significant deviation from the standard of care expected of a person”.
Peter Drury / stuff
The woman was concerned about her methamphetamine use and the impact it might have on her baby.
The court heard toxicologist Leo Schep of the National Poisons Center, who said that children exposed to methamphetamine may show signs of increased heart rate, agitation, inconsolable crying, irritability and vomiting, hypothermia, seizures and muscle deterioration.
Schep said that the risks of toxicity through breastfeeding had been recognized and he did not believe that the symptoms this baby was experiencing could have been the result of exposure to secondhand smoke or exposure to contaminated surfaces.
A defense expert, forensic consultant and toxicologist Sarah Tarrant-Wooding, argued that it was not possible to determine precisely from the test results when or how the drug was used.
Stuff
Toxicologist Leo Schep told the court that the risks of breastfeeding while using methamphetamine were recognized.
He said that methamphetamine remained in breast milk for up to 100 hours, but the breast milk in this case had not been tested, so there was no evidence that it contained methamphetamine. She said the test results could be due to passive inhalation or inadvertent ingestion due to sucking on a contaminated item.
The woman’s midwife said the woman had an “incredibly close and beautiful relationship … with her baby.”
A paramedic who treated the baby recalled that the woman told her colleague that she was a regular user of methamphetamine and that she had taken the drug while breastfeeding and wanted help for her addiction.
A social worker from Oranga Tamariki told the court that the woman had expressed concern about the effect her methamphetamine use would have on the baby.
Judge Hinton noted that the woman was genuinely concerned for the well-being of her baby.
The supply of methamphetamine to New Zealand is declining, but it continues to leave a stain on the country. People are encouraged to test for drug contamination before renting or buying a home.
He also noted that the baby may have been exposed to methamphetamine through other ways, such as inhalation, “but I was satisfied that, based on the evidence, the overwhelming cause of the introduction of methamphetamine was breastfeeding.”
“For me, the circumstances here are a significant and serious departure from the daily demands and expectations of society in relation to mothers who take care of their babies; in this case a mother breastfeeding her baby. It is axiomatic that a baby should not be exposed to obvious anguish and suffering that are serious for the baby, ”said the judge.
The woman will be sentenced next month.
Stuff reached out to Oranga Tamariki, but did not provide comment before the deadline.
PROSECUTING WOMEN MAY DECREASE THEM FROM SEEKING HELP
SUPPLIED
Auckland University Associate Professor Trecia Wouldes.
University of Auckland Associate Professor Trecia Wouldes specializes in developmental science. She has been conducting a longitudinal study of children since 2005 and investigates the impacts of maternal drug use on children.
Wouldes said her study included 107 women who reported using methamphetamine during pregnancy. The oldest son in the study was now 14 years old; the youngest 9.
Behavioral problems had been observed in affected children, but no serious “mental retardation effects”.
Some drug-using mothers are able to breastfeed while using methamphetamine, as they may not be willing to pay for formula.
Wouldes said that while there was clear information on whether to breastfeed, not as much information was provided on the risks of breastfeeding while using methamphetamine.
“I don’t think it’s widely known out there that you should be discouraged. Instead, midwives are very, very aggressive about the need to breastfeed, ”she said.
Wouldes was not in favor of prosecuting pregnant or breastfeeding women using methamphetamine, as it would likely have the effect of “forcing them into hiding.”
“You want these women to face social services,” he said.
