Neonatal abstinence syndrome is a syndrome caused by maternal drug use and it is on the rise in the US. Babies are born addicted to opioids, which causes health problems like irritability, tremors, and seizures. Current treatment varies and can include weaning them off with methadone or morphine, but there isn't enough research to know what's best. While urban hospitals all report the amount of cases growing, exact numbers are hard to come by, so treatment is difficult. The effects of maternal drugs use first became widely known in the 1970s, partly because of increased drub use in the US. Even though it's been nearly 40 years, treatment for infants hasn't gotten much better. Before we can improve treatment, we need to gather more information from the state departments of health.
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/28/471308462/a-crisis-with-scant-data-states-move-to-count-drug-dependent-babies
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