At least 1,500 Scottish babies born addicted to drugs
More than 1,500 babies have been born dependent on substances in Scotland since 2017.
New figures obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats through freedom of information requests show that at least 1,501 babies were born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) - showing signs of drug addiction because of their mother taking legal or illegal drugs during pregnancy.
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Hide AdThe health boards reporting the most cases were NHS Lothian with 774, NHS Grampian with 209 and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde with 221.
The symptoms of NAS, caused by drugs passing from the mother to her foetus’ blood stream during pregnancy, include uncontrollable trembling, hyperactivity, blotchy skin and high pitch crying.
Now Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has urged the Scottish Government to commit to creating world-leading drug and alcohol services.


Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “There is perhaps no worse start in life for a newborn baby than to be born dependent on drugs.
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Hide Ad“The Scottish Government regularly make the headlines for their mishandling of drug deaths but in a host of other ways drug misuse can make lives a misery.
“Nicola Sturgeon cut the budget for drug and alcohol services and predictably this meant some services closing their doors and valuable expertise being lost. The current budget proposed by John Swinney risks making the same mistake again.
“I don’t want to see future generations still struggling with drug misuse. It’s time to turn the page and invest in local services which are best placed to intervene to stop lives from being lost and new lives starting dependent on substances.”
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “No newborn baby should be born dependent on substances and mothers should be able to get the help they need, free from judgement and stigma.
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Hide Ad“Through our £250 million National Mission on drugs we are taking a wide range of evidence-based measures to reduce harm and save lives. We want every person experiencing harm from alcohol or drug use to be able access the support they need and record levels of funding have been protected in next year’s budget. We’ve maintained £112 million to local Alcohol and Drug Partnerships for treatment and support services and will continue to invest in residential rehabilitation.”
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