Since 2017, among the total number of babies born in Scotland, more than 850 showed signs of drug addiction because of their mother abusing legal or illegal substances such as cocaine, heroin, codeine, marijuana, and alcohol during pregnancy. 

These figures were revealed on Thursday by the Scottish Liberal Democrat Party.

The statistics were compiled through freedom of information requests made to Scotland´s health boards, and the party´s health spokesperson, Alex Cole-Hamilton, described them as “utterly heartbreaking”. 

The opposition lawmaker blamed the problem on the ruling National Scottish Party for cutting funding to drug programs and urged the autonomous government to take radical action. He considered that this is meant “not just to help people struggling with drug misuse today but for future generations too.”

The largest number of babies born with the neonatal abstinence syndrome was recorded in Lothian with 434, followed by Greater Glasgow and Clyde with 143 and Grampian with 118.

The symptoms caused by drugs passing from the mother to her fetus’ bloodstream during pregnancy include uncontrollable trembling, hyperactivity, blotchy skin, and high-pitch crying.

It is worth noting that Scotland recorded 1,339 drug-related deaths in 2020, by far the highest drug death rate recorded by any country in Europe.