Chicago — The "crack baby" phenomenon is overblown, according to a study that suggests poverty and the use of cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs while pregnant are just as likely as cocaine to cause developmental problems in children.
Blaming such problems on prenatal cocaine use alone has unfairly stigmatized children, creating an unfounded fear in teachers that "crack kids" will be backward and disruptive, according to the study, an analysis of 36 previous studies.
"I'm not trying to be Pollyanna-ish and say there are not problems" with cocaine use by pregnant women, said Dr. Deborah Frank, an associate professor of pediatrics at Boston University who led the analysis. "I'm saying there are many more serious risks to children's development."
The analysis appears in today's Journal of the American Medical Assn.
The perception that crack babies are a unique phenomenon stems from an overreaction to research that did not adequately take into account such factors as family environment and cocaine mothers' use of other substances while pregnant, the researchers said.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.