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Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome can be treated by Non-Pharmacologic Approaches

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome can be treated by Non-Pharmacologic Approaches


Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) refers to a group of problems that occurs to newborns who were exposed to addictive drugs (amphetamines, cocaine, nicotine, marijuana) while in the mother's womb. To improve the outcomes for infants with Neonatal abstinence syndrome some non-pharmacological approaches have been focused. The use of non-pharmacologic approaches not only showed positive outcomes for infants and mother but also it showed a decrease in the use of medications. This approach also decreased the length of stay at the hospital and the hospital cost.

In today’s generation the use of addictive drugs by adults is increasing due to various reasons and as a result, the rate of infants born exposed to these drugs developing NAS Symptoms is also increasing. These infants had to stay in hospitals for around one month. Finnegan Scale is used to evaluate NAS symptoms and that score is used to determine when to treat with medication which is usually in the form of morphine. However recently new approaches involving non-pharmacologic treatments like breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact have shown to improve the symptoms of NAS and also the behaviour prioritizing assessment tools such as how well an infant is sleeping and eating has reduced the number of infants receiving the medication treatment compared to Finnegan Scale.

Experiment was done to see the effectiveness of this non-pharmacologic approach. This experiment included parental presence near the infant’s bed, breastfeeding, and skin to skin contact as the first line of treatment. Educations about the importance of the presence and contact with their infants were provided to the parents. Infants were kept in pediatrics inpatient room along with the bed for parents. Also, a cuddling volunteer program supplemented parents' presence, which allowed the infant to be held in the absence of parents. Additionally, morphine was replaced with methadone for the infants who required medication.

The result of this approach was quite impressive. This approach decreased the need to treat the infant with medication by around 50%. The length of hospital stay and hospital charges also decreased. This approach can be successfully implemented in the hospitals to improve maternal health as well as infant’s health and also to reduce the healthcare cost.  
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