Rural U.S. babies hardest hit by opiate addiction at birth

By Lisa Rapaport As a growing number of U.S. babies are being born suffering withdrawal syndrome after exposure to prescription opiates or heroin in utero, rural infants appear much more at risk than city newborns, a new study suggests. Researchers focused on what’s known as neonatal abstinence syndrome, a condition akin to withdrawal that develops when babies essentially become addicted to drugs their mothers use during pregnancy. For rural babies nationwide, the rate of neonatal abstinence syndrome surged from 1.2 cases per 1,000 hospital births in 2004 to 7.5 cases per 1,000 births by 2013, the study found.