Directorate of Health has proposed a new state guidelines for pregnant women in MAR. It is recommended that pregnant women who use methadone or Subutex should continue this – even if the child is born with withdrawal symptoms.
Norwegian women who have used methadone during pregnancy, according to figures from the Health Directorate, have given 300 births so far. Accordingly, between 30 and 60 children are born with withdrawal in Norway every year.
– All newborns who are exposed to methadone and Subutex until birth are born with addiction and half medicated with morphine mixture. The duration is different, but it could take months, says Sverre Medbøe from Oslo University Hospital.
She describes these children as infants who sleep less, cry a lot, and often have diarrhea and vomiting.
Considering these conditions, Trønnes asks whether there should be a right for everyone to have children unconditionally.
– The regulation in Norway assumes that mother is more important than children. We have fought this legislation permitting the enforcement of drug dependent mothers, and it is totally illogical when you legalize a treatment that causes harm on children", said Medbøe.
