CHARLESTON, W.Va. - More than 800 West Virginia women reported they abused drugs while pregnant during the past year, according to a study released Thursday.

About 100 babies born to those drug-using mothers had to be rushed to newborn intensive care units at hospitals, where they received specialized medical care that cost an estimated $4.3 million.

The government bore the bulk of those costs. Medicaid covered 83 percent of pregnant drug users in West Virginia last year, according to the report from the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership. 

"We're seeing tremendous increases in women using drugs during pregnancy in recent years," said Denise Burgess, who directs the Family Resource Center at CAMC Women and Children's Hospital.

To make matters worse, 78 percent of mothers who used drugs acknowledged they also smoked during pregnancy - a practice that further jeopardizes a baby's health, the study found.

"The fetus gets a double hit," said Dr. Martha Mullett, a pediatrician at West Virginia University's School of Medicine. 

 The report analyzed data from questionnaires that women filled out after they give birth during a yearlong period that ended last July. It's the first time that the "birth score" survey included questions about drug use.

The 800 women who reported using drugs make up 5 percent of all women who had babies during the past fiscal year. But the number of drug-addicted mothers is probably much higher, doctors and health advocates said Thursday.

Many pregnant women are reluctant to admit they used drugs while pregnant, fearing they might be arrested and prosecuted, Mullet said. 

"Asking somebody whether they used drugs isn't perfection," Mullet said. "Sometimes they won't tell you, but it's the best we can get."

Nearly 60 percent of drug-abusing mothers said they smoked marijuana during pregnancy, the data showed. About 17 percent reported they used methadone, while 13 percent said they used cocaine and 3.5 percent methamphetamine.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - More than 800 West Virginia women reported they abused drugs while pregnant during the past year, according to a study released Thursday.

About 100 babies born to those drug-using mothers had to be rushed to newborn intensive care units at hospitals, where they received specialized medical care that cost an estimated $4.3 million.

The government bore the bulk of those costs. Medicaid covered 83 percent of pregnant drug users in West Virginia last year, according to the report from the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership. 

"We're seeing tremendous increases in women using drugs during pregnancy in recent years," said Denise Burgess, who directs the Family Resource Center at CAMC Women and Children's Hospital.

To make matters worse, 78 percent of mothers who used drugs acknowledged they also smoked during pregnancy - a practice that further jeopardizes a baby's health, the study found.

"The fetus gets a double hit," said Dr. Martha Mullett, a pediatrician at West Virginia University's School of Medicine. 

 The report analyzed data from questionnaires that women filled out after they give birth during a yearlong period that ended last July. It's the first time that the "birth score" survey included questions about drug use.

The 800 women who reported using drugs make up 5 percent of all women who had babies during the past fiscal year. But the number of drug-addicted mothers is probably much higher, doctors and health advocates said Thursday.

Many pregnant women are reluctant to admit they used drugs while pregnant, fearing they might be arrested and prosecuted, Mullet said. 

"Asking somebody whether they used drugs isn't perfection," Mullet said. "Sometimes they won't tell you, but it's the best we can get."

Nearly 60 percent of drug-abusing mothers said they smoked marijuana during pregnancy, the data showed. About 17 percent reported they used methadone, while 13 percent said they used cocaine and 3.5 percent methamphetamine.

About 14 percent of the women were multiple drug abusers. 

The West Virginia mothers who admitted using drugs during pregnancy were more likely to have underweight babies. Low birth weights are linked to long-term disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, autism, mental retardation, diabetes, and vision and hearing impairments.

"This population has low-birth-weight babies at twice the normal rate," Mullet said.

The report's findings weren't surprising to doctors and other health professionals who care for drug-addicted babies born from mothers with substance abuse problems.

At Cabell Huntington Hospital, for instance, the number of babies born with a drug addiction - also known neonatal abstinence syndrome - increased from 21 in 2004 to 70 in 2007, said Dr. David Chaffin, director of the Maternal Hypertension Center at Marshall University's School of Medicine.

Last year, more than 80 percent of those newborns had to be sent to the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, where they stayed 14 days on average.

"It's a drain on hospital resources," Chaffin said.

The Perinatal Partnership report suggests that doctors, nurses and other health professionals receive additional training to test women for drug use earlier during pregnancy and provide treatment sooner.

That would increase the chances of their babies being born without a drug addiction. 

"We have to communicate to our patients that this is a safe place to disclose your drug use," said Burgess, whose resource center at CAMC has a special program for drug-addicted pregnant women. "It's a disease, and we need to look at it as a chronic illness."

Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com or 348-4869.