A Ninth Grade Teaching Unit on Human Embryology
Frank Caparulo and Kathleen London
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Effects of Drug on Prenatal Development
Over-the-Counter Drugs We in America are known as a pill-popping society. In a study conducted in California,
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it was was found that the average pregnant woman takes more than three different drugs daily, and 4% of the women took ten or more different drugs. There are two major areas of concern when it comes to drugs and pregnancy; first, the proper dose for a 125 pound mother will be a very large overdose for a one or two pound fetus: second, the liver of the fetus is incapable of breaking down the drugs in the same way the maternal liver enzymes do, which result in the different manner in which the drug acts upon the developing fetus.
Drug Addicts—Heroin—On the average maternal addicts deliver smaller than average size babies with more incidence of toxemia, premature separation of placenta, retained placenta, hemorrhaging after birth, and breech deliveries. A high rate of neonatal diseases, infant addiction, and mortality have been reported.