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'Heartbreaking' More than 800 babies in Scotland born addicted to drugs in last four years

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dailyrecord.co.uk

At least 852 babies were born addicted to drugs in Scotland over the last four years, shock figures have revealed.Politicians described the situation as "heartbreaking" while campaigners said more needed to be done to support women who become pregnant while battling substance issues.A total of 173 babies with addictions were recorded in both 2019-20 and 2020-21 - down from 205 in 2018-19 and 249 in 2017-18.A further 52 such births were registered in the first part of 2021-22.But the real number could be even higher as NHS Fife - one of the country's largest health boards - failed to provide details when asked.Figures obtained by the Scottish Lib Dems revealed the largest number of births where infants were suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) was in NHS Lothian where there were 434 such cases.There were 143 recorded by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and 118 in NHS Grampian.NAS can result in infants suffering from uncontrollable trembling and hyperactivity as well as having blotchy skin and high-pitch crying.Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Lib Dems leader, described the figures as being “utterly heart-breaking”.The MSP for Edinburgh Western added: “It is hard to think of a worse possible start in life for a newborn baby to have to endure.”Cole-Hamilton said the issue had not been helped by the SNP ministers.He continued: “In 2016 the Scottish Government slashed funding to drug and alcohol partnerships by more than 20 per cent.“Valuable local facilities shut their doors and expertise was lost which has proved hard to replace."David Liddell, CEO of Scottish Drugs Forum, told the Record that health services needed to encourage pregnant women to seek treatment if they were battling addiction issues."Women who use

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