Addicted babies are infants who are born physically dependent on drugs because of drug use by the mother during her pregnancy. Doctors consider babies addicted if they have a high level of exposure to drugs before birth. Each year in the United States some 320,000 babies are born exposed to alcohol and illegally used drugs while in the uterus, or in utero. A far larger number have been exposed in utero to sedatives and nicotine. Since the 1970s, an increasing number of women have begun to use both legal and illegal drugs. As a result, society is more aware of the problem of drug-exposed babies.

A much higher percentage of pregnant women between the ages of 15 and 25 report having used illicit drugs than pregnant women over the age of 26.

Drug-addicted women often use more than one substance at a time. Use of multiple...