MORE than 300 babies are born addicted to heroin and other illegal drugs every year in Scotland, new figures have revealed.

Since 1998, the number of babies born to drug-addicted mothers has soared by almost 30% as a result of growing abuse of class-A substances, particularly among middle-class parents.

Rates have more than doubled in Argyll and Clyde and Dumfries and Galloway, almost quadrupled in Tayside and risen by a little less than a third in Lothian. Greater Glasgow recorded the largest number of newborn addicts, 70, followed by 58 in Grampian, 40 in Argyll and Clyde and 39 in Tayside.

Across Scotland, the rate of births involving drug abuse has risen from 4.4 per 1,000 live births in 1998/99 to 6.1 in 2003/04, the year covered by the latest figures.

Babies born to addicted mothers can suffer severe withdrawal symptoms, including breathing problems and convulsions and are more prone to sudden infant death syndrome. The distressing symptoms can last up to 10 weeks, while exposure to drugs in the womb can lead to serious health problems in later life.

Babies exposed to cocaine in the uterus are more likely to suffer birth defects and disabilities, including cerebral palsy, blindness and hearing problems. Heroin use can lead to premature delivery, low birth weight and stillbirth.

Infants born to cannabis-smoking mothers are believed to be at a much higher risk of developing leukaemia in later life.

Drug use and binge drinking have been blamed for a dramatic increase in the number of babies born with severe abnormalities, including gastroschisis, where the intestine grows outside the body.

The alarming statistics, which the NHS admits are probably an underestimate, have emerged following the case of an 11-year-old girl from Glasgow who collapsed after taking heroin. The girl, whose mother is an addict, had been taking the drug for two years.

Last week, Professor Neil McKeganey, one of Scotland’s leading experts on drug addiction, called on ministers to introduce American-style legislation under which mothers who fail to kick their habit a year after giving birth should have their children put up for adoption automatically.

It is estimated that as many as 20,000 children, half of them in Glasgow, are being raised in homes where at least one parent is addicted to heroin or cocaine.

“Many of these children will be born dependent on drugs and risk having other problems later in life,” said Maggie Mellon, chief executive of the charity Children 1st. “Attention has to be paid to the needs of these children, not just in the short term, but as they grow up in a drug-using household. Many of the children who are taking heroin, dealing heroin and getting involved in prostitution are brought up within that culture.” oThousands of Scottish children are being prescribed potentially dangerous, unlicensed drugs without their parents’ consent, a new study has revealed. More than 90% of paediatricians admit giving drugs to children that have only been tested on adults and more than two-thirds do so without obtaining consent from parents.

Often they are forced to guess the correct doses of powerful drugs such as painkillers, sedatives, steroids and medicines to treat heart disease because there is no reliable data on the safe dose for children.

The research, based on a survey of more than 150 hospital paediatricians by academics at Aberdeen University, reveals that almost a fifth of the doctors who prescribe adult medicines to children have experienced at least one “adverse drug reaction” as a result.

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