Cocaine & Breast Milk: A Deadly Combination
Today I read an incredibly tragic story about a 2-month-old baby in Pennsylvania who died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) because her parents were allegedly too drunk and high on cocaine to notice.
The parents, Jennifer Nicole Gaster and Daniel Keith Martin II, both 30, stood trial Monday on child endangerment charges alleging that after a night spent snorting cocaine and drinking beer and vodka, the couple was too incapacitated to notice their baby was dying.
This is not the first time we have seen a parents with a history of drug and/or alcohol abuse lose a child to SIDS. In February of 2007, a Michigan woman pleaded guilty to charges that claimed high levels of cocaine in her breast milk had killed her 5-month-old daughter. Although the cause of death was originally thought to be SIDS at the time the baby died, further testing proved otherwise, and at the trial, the mother admitted to using cocaine two or three times the day before the baby died.
Traces of cocaine can remain in breast milk for more than 48 hours after a woman uses it — and the transmission from mother to infant has been linked to respiratory failure, seizures, increased cardiovascular risk, central nervous system damage, irritability and addiction — just to name a few.
Babies are at high risk for SIDS if they:
o Are born to mothers who smoke or use drugs
o Have low birth weight or premature infants
o Are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke
o Sleep in a crib packed with soft objects and loose bedding
o Are placed to sleep on their stomachs
o Are between the ages of 1 and 6 months
Please be advised that most drugs are transmitted through breast milk. If you are abusing any kind of drug – especially cocaine – the effects can be deadly.
Tags: addiction, alcohol abuse, baby, breast milk, cardiovascular risk, central nervous system damage, cocaine, Daniel Keith Martin II, Dr. Manny Alvarez, drug abuse, drugs, infant death, irritability, Jennifer Nicole Gaster, Lily Marie Martin, low birth weight, Pennsylvania, prematurity, respiratory failure, risk factors, seizures, SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome
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Really? Gosh, I would have never guessed this one in a million years…come on Manny, the women who are out there smoking cocaine are not in here reading your articles. Give us some real information.
This sounds absurd to hold these parents liable for the death of their infant. The original story listed SIDS as the death not cocaine ingestion. How is it any different if the parents were high, drunk, or just asleep. How were they to know that their baby was going to die. As parents are we now expected to actually have our eyes open watching our children 24 hours a day or be liable in court. When would parents sleep. This just seems absurd. Sometimes bad things happen…babies die. It doesnt mean you charge the parents with a crime for not anticipating the death of their baby.
bleh
Another perfect baby died, due to the mothers stupidity. Murder charges are to good for these parents. PLEASE, think BEFORE you do any kind of drug or alcohol.
I am with lisameowme on this one. While these parents are morons for doing drugs (if true), either the baby died of SIDS or the baby died of cocaine ingestion. Not both. As the mother of a baby who died of SIDS, your article is offensive and vapid. They haven’t proven these people were on drugs, that is just heresay. Also, I was told that children have even died in their parents arms in a hospital due to SIDS and nothing could be done to save those babies. Even children on monitors have died of SIDS & they couldn’t save them. So quit blaming the parents of these precious babies. Having said that, drugs and babies don’t mix. And these people should not have been doing drugs with or without children present. It is a tragedy all the way around. But until they have proof that this baby died of cocaine ingestion (very possible, but again – NOT the same thing as SIDS) then we shouldn’t accuse these people just because their neighbors said they party all the time. So far, they have denied that is the truth. Losing a baby is a tragedy of immense proportions. Don’t cheapen it with gossip and pathetic advice that, like Natalie says, will never reach the people it needs to because they won’t be reading things like this anyway.
WOW-me thinks a few of the people who replied to your info are drug users themselves. I mean how hard is it to understand that the baby had parents so messed up on drugs that they did not check on the child-did not notice signs of impending death which may have been picked up on by sober parents. Sure the baby may have died had the parents been responsible as that sadly happens but dont give drug using parents the support that” well ….anything could happen…..might as well get high-s*** happens.” Notice the children alone at the playground who have no parent watching over them……..could it be that they slipped out the door at the wise old age of 3, unnoticed by sleeping parents -I know of someone who was sleeping mid-afternoon due to being high—–they defended their actions stating ”my child knew it was wrong to go out without me.” A THREE year old. Another acquaintance drank , passed out while cooking leaving stove on while her 2 year old was in the crib-she also left the door OPEN. Her drinking started outside …luckily a good neighbor saw the open door and went in to check on the person knowing she had been drinking heavily…………..BUT what if no one had noticed Or what if the person had been someone with evil intent…………….yet this parent the very next day dismissed the evenings behavior. She stated ”everyone does it sometime.” C’MON PEOPLE lets expect people to behave responsibly. Let’s hold ourselves and friends/family accountable.
They deserve to be charged if they did drugs, because by being drunk and high they put that child in danger. maybe there isn’t anything they could’ve done with the sids but anything could’ve happened to that child and wouldn’t have been coherent enough to handle that either. so where they don’t deserve to be held up on murder charges they should have to pay a penalty for being irresponsible in the first place.
Suggestion for preventing spread of germs: SNEEZE IN YOUR SHIRT, NOT ON YOUR HANDS.
The Middle Ages strategy of covering one’s mouth with hand when coughing and/or sneezing only transfers the germs to the hand.
Suggestion: If when one pulls out a collar of one’s shirt/blouse and sneezes in shirt/blouse, the germs will be contained on the person of the already-infected individual. It may not be the common “etiquette,” but it is more effective.
Note: When I taught in the inner city, my students were required to do this and to teach their families to do so.
We generally had 100% attendance, while other classrooms suffered many students absent.
put an IUD in that woman and cut the string.
Cm-on Dr. Manny … So, according to your article, if a mother drank water that day and har child died of SIDS that night, we can assume that she is guilty of the death? Don’t tell a liberal this; they’ll acuse her of waterboarding!!! I don’t support the abuse of ANY substance; however, the cocaine use during the day cannot be blamed for the baby’s death since so many thousands have died over the years while completely sober parents were caring for the children. Using this logic, sobriety was the cause of these other SIDS cases, eh? We can’t make drugs the scapegoat for this one. If there is any justice remaining in America, the accused will have the accusations in that case laughed out of court.
The lesson to be learned here clearly is to be a responsible parent. To nuture your child the way your suppose to. Children expect us and turn to us to be protected. If you have a child and you still wanna behave as though you don’t give the child up for adoption. You can’t have things your way this isn’t burger king people. When you are a parent you’re suppose to check up on your baby. This a child knows. Condoms are cheap don’t have what your not wiling to fight for. I feel sorry that they lost there child to stupidity.
All four of my children were breastfed- if I so much as ate onions or garlic the babies reacted with stomach aches and gas – cmon people think about it- neuroscientists now have brain scans which show that the brain looks like swiss cheese on cocaine- the vital areas of the brain ceases to function- the baby is 6-8 pounds- of course it could kill a baby. Anything the mom takes in goes directly into that sensitive,
delicate little system of a baby. Moms must be extremely careful when breastfeeding- not to mention
conscious. The world has gone mad, in my opinion, to think that it wouldnt affect a baby.