(Memphis) The number of infants born drug dependent is growing quickly in Tennessee.
Already there have been more drug dependent babies born in Tennessee so far this year, than all of 2011.
“They tremor, the cry, they cannot be consoled,” said Baptist Women’s Hospital NICU staff nurse Julie Jones.
“Even if you’re not assigned a baby and you hear that baby crying we all feel for them,” said Jones.
While the increase has seen mostly in West Tennessee, nurses are also seeing the increase in Memphis.
“We have seen this more often. We are seeing this much more often this year then we have in years past,” said Jones.
Baptist is now looking for ways to help babies cope with withdrawal symptoms better.
“They need a lot of consoling, they need swaddling, they quite often medication to ease that withdrawal they’re going through,” said Jones.
For more information on the increase: https://news.tn.gov/node/11477