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Using drugs and alcohol during pregnancy is both physically and psychologically harmful to an unborn child. The damage caused by prenatal substance exposure extends much further than an unborn child's stint in the womb. Prenatal drug and alcohol exposure can affect a child for the rest of his or her life. According to a case study on adolescents who had been exposed to nicotine prenatally, conducted by Dr. Schadad Lotfipour and his colleges, teenagers who were exposed to nicotine prenatally were much more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol (Lofipour 1244). Additionally, Lofipour discovered that the orbitofrontal cortex in the brains of the prenatally exposed teenagers were much smaller than the non-exposed control group (Lofipour 1248). According to Oxford Journal writers Carmen Cavada and Wolfram Schultz in their article, "The Mysterious Orbitofrontal Cortex", the orbitofrontal cortex is accepted as the center of many human social and behavioral functions. .
The psychological disorders associated with prenatal drug and alcohol exposure are likely becoming a serious mental health occurrence. The behavioral issues caused from prenatal drug and alcohol exposure affect more then just the afflicted individual. The friends and family members of a prenatally drug or alcohol exposed person will probably have to endure the burden of caring for, improvising with, and financing the health or psychological issues their loved one suffers from. A newborn baby can go through grueling and painful drug withdrawal for drugs he or she never chose to use. After the withdrawal ends, a child may be affected for the rest of his or her life. An afflicted person's home, school, and work life are likely to suffer from the psychological disorders caused by the use of drugs or alcohol before he or she was even born.
The women who choose to use and abuse drugs and/or alcohol throughout their pregnancy may be bringing a socially, physically, and psychologically abnormal generation into the world.