Prenatal Cocaine Exposure: An Examination of Out-of-home Placement during the First Year of Life

Abstract

In a longitudinal, prospective study, three groups of infants were defined by placement status through age one: cocaine-exposed infants in out-of-home placement (n=66), cocaine-exposed infants who remained with their biological mother (n=79), and matched (race, socioeconomic status, parity, birth risk) noncocaine-exposed infants who remained with their biological mother (n=141). Of this predominantly African-American, low socioeconomic status, multiparous cohort, 46% of the women who used cocaine prenatally had infants in out-of-home placement at some time during the first year of life. The odds ratio for losing/relinquishing custody, for weeks of cocaine use during pregnancy was 6.0 (1.6, 22.0; 95% CI). More positive life experiences and higher education significantly improved the potential of retaining custody. Depression had a small but significant negative effect on the possibility of maintaining custody. The prenatal and post-partum period is an important time to provide services that encourage substance abuse recovery and associated factors of stability that facilitate an intact mother-infant dyad.