Question: What would be the best way to deal with drugs and alchohol abuse if you were a pregnant mother and wanted your child to live a good life?

Simon Langley-Evans answered on 20 Nov 2013:

Coming off any addiction is incredibly challenging and addicts need to be given a lot of medical and psychological support to succeed. This support is only likely to work if the person really wants it to, because to give something up needs commitment and a lot of hard work. It will fail if they don’t try.

For a woman who is pregnant, alcohol or drug abuse will be likely to do a lot of harm to the baby, or (more likely) cause a miscarriage. Pregnancy is a time when most women become very health conscious and often change their behaviour. Women who smoke, for example, often give up when they become pregnant because they want to do the best for their baby. In the same way, being pregnant may help women change their drinking and drug behaviours, but they will need huge support from doctors, nurses, midwives and social workers to do so.