A mother who smoked heroin while pregnant - and even during labour - says she will never forgive herself after her daughter was born an addict.
Corraine Casey's daughter Georgia, now 11, was born addicted to the drug.
Ms Casey, now 35, already had two young children when she became pregnant with Georgia.
She admits neglecting them by spending money that should have been for heating and food on drugs.
Corraine Casey, 35, took heroin throughout her pregnancy with Georgia, 11, meaning her daughter was born addicted to the drug and had to be weaned off it as a new born
She even sold her TV to buy drugs — but she vowed to give up the habit after seeing her new born go through a detox.
Telling Georgia and her siblings the truth about their horrific start in life was, she says, as hard as coming off drugs.
But now, the married mother-of-seven is helping others battling substance addiction after completely turning her life around.
Ms Casey said: ‘I failed my kids because all I cared about was getting high. Nobody could feel more regret and shame than I do.
'But I needed to be honest with them so I can move forward and try to use the experience to help others.’
She says she spiralled into drug addiction after a tough childhood.
Ms Casey even took heroin during labour and shortly after her daughter's birth. The pair are pictured shortly after Georgia's birth when she had to be given methadone to prevent her suffering withdrawal symptoms
Ms Casey stopped taking heroin after Georgia's birth as she was worried her baby would be taken into care
She explained: ‘I was the youngest of eight siblings and our father suffered with paranoid schizophrenia and was an alcoholic. Mum did her best but she also suffered with depression.’
When she was eight her father was admitted to a secure hospital and Ms Casey was placed in care. Her father died when she was ten.
She said: ‘It hit mum hard and she turned to drink. That’s when I started going off the rails.’
HOW DOES HEROIN IMPACT A BABY?
Drugs, including heroin, can pass through the placenta to reach an unborn baby.
Heroin can slow down the baby's growth and have an effect on its brain development.
It can also cause the baby to have breathing difficulties after birth.
One of the most serious problems heroin causes for the baby is withdrawal symptoms after birth.
If the baby develops these, it will need special care in hospital.
As the baby gets older, he or she may be at increased risk of behavioural problems and intelligence could also be affected.
Trying to give up heroin during pregnancy can be dangerous and result in miscarriage, premature birth or stillbirth.
As a result, pregnant women who want to give up the drug need to be monitored on a drug treatment programme.
Source: The BabyCentre
She left school with no qualifications and soon became pregnant.
By the time daughter Nicole, now 17, was born, she had already split with the father.
She says: ‘I was a young single mum but I loved my baby and was determined to give her a good life.’
But all that changed when she fell for a former partner. She says: ‘We’d dated when I was at school. He’d never been into drugs.’
But soon he was inviting his friends round to smoke what Ms Casey thought was cannabis.
She said: ‘I was a bit naïve, I assumed it was like marijuana.
‘When I asked them they said it was a type of painkiller that made them feel relaxed.’
Soon her partner and his friends were smoking the ‘painkiller’ every night, but Ms Casey refused to try it at first.
When she finally caved in and tried it, she had no idea she was taking heroin.
She said: ‘It wasn’t as common as it is now. I didn’t know how addictive it was or even its name.
‘The first time I smoked it I was sick, but it gave me a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling so I kept trying it.’
She assumed it was harmless and continued to smoke it when her baby was in bed.
She said: ‘It was only when I didn’t have any one night and I felt ill, I realised I was addicted.’
Over the next six months she smoked heroin several times a day — until she discovered she was pregnant with Keira, now 13.
She said: ‘It was really hard but I stopped using straight away.’
Ms Casey says she can never forgive herself for taking drugs while she was pregnant with Georgia
Ms Casey (pictured with Georgia) did not realise she was taking heroin when the drug was first given to her by a boyfriend. She became so addicted she even sold her television to pay for the drug
But months after Keira was born, she was addicted once more.
She said: ‘I had two small children but all I cared about was drugs. The house was freezing as I had no money to spend on heating. It all went on getting high.’
She fed her daughters on cheap microwave food, but often had to turn to her mother for help.
She said: ‘Mum didn’t know I’d spent the money on drugs. She’d give us cans of beans and bread so the girls didn’t go hungry.’
As her addiction escalated she even sold the television to buy heroin.
She said: ‘The kids were upset they couldn’t watch cartoons. But nothing mattered but drugs.’
In 2001 she became pregnant for the third time, this time with Georgia.
Ms Casey said: 'I failed my kids because all I cared about was getting high. Nobody could feel more regret and shame than I do'
She said: ‘As soon as I found out I told myself I would stop using like I had before. But this time it was impossible.
‘Every time I got high I kept telling myself it would be the last time but it never was.’
Terrified that midwives would discover she was a drug addict, Ms Casey missed all her appointments and continued to smoke heroin up to five times a day — and even when she went into labour.
Ms Casey, from Lincoln, admits: ‘When my contractions started the first thing I did was get high.’
But she finally blurted the truth to midwives between contractions.
She said: ‘As selfish as I was, I had to get help for my baby.’
Midwives informed doctors who prepared to rush the baby to special baby care. Georgia was born hours later on August 23, 2002, fully dependent on heroin.
Georgia (pictured with her mother) says she was shocked when she learned she was born addicted to drugs but that she thinks her mother is very brave for telling her
Ms Casey said: ‘The midwives had been lovely during my labour but all that changed after Georgia was born and I was moved to the ward. I could sense the staff staring at me. I was the evil mother whose baby was born addicted to heroin.
‘I was struggling to cope and all I could think about was getting a fix. I sneaked out to get high.’
Doctors gave methadone orally to Georgia to help prevent her suffering withdrawal symptoms.
Ms Casey said: ‘My baby was detoxing because of me. Of course I felt bad but I was still a heroin addict. I still needed drugs.’
She continued to sneak out of the ward to take heroin while her baby received treatment. The child was one week old when Ms Casey admitted she needed help, too.
She said: ‘I knew I was going to lose my baby if I didn’t get clean.’
Doctors also prescribed methadone for Ms Casey. Over the next few weeks both were weaned on to smaller doses of the heroin substitute under the care of the hospital.
It was only weeks into her detox that the full gravity of what she had done hit home.
Georgia (pictured) said: 'I think my mum is really brave. She told me the truth when she didn't have to. She wants to help other people and I love her for that'
She said: ‘The full horror only hit me when that fog started to clear. I couldn’t believe what I had done. I couldn’t stop crying. I felt like scum.’
After a month, both mother and baby were discharged clean and into the care of Ms Casey’s mother.
Despite becoming pregnant again with Jaycee, now ten, Ms Casey managed to stay clean and eventually left her partner for good.
Miraculously, Georgia has suffered no long-term ill effects as a result of her mother's drug use.
One year on, Ms Casey met her husband and went on to have another three children — Danny, eight, Frankie, five and Ava, one. She has not touched drugs since.
She said: ‘I tried to carry on being the best mum I could but each pregnancy brought all the shame and guilt to the surface. I desperately wanted to go back and change it all.
‘I’ve never stopped beating myself up about it and probably never will.’
Last year she suffered a breakdown caused by the guilt, which led to the decision to train as a volunteer support worker to help others.
Ms Casey did not take drugs while she was pregnant with any of her other children but feels guilty because she used to spend all of her money on drugs rather than heating and food
But first she needed to come clean to her children about her shameful past.
She said: ‘I especially wanted Georgia to know the truth. I sat all the kids down and told them everything.
'When I told Georgia she’d been born an addict she looked shocked, but accepted it in that wonderful way kids do.
‘I already knew I’d raised good kids but they showed true love and compassion that I will always be grateful for.
‘It’s time to stop beating myself up over the past and help other people with their future.’
Georgia added: ‘I was shocked when mum told me I had been born addicted to drugs.
‘I think my mum is really brave. She told me the truth when she didn’t have to. She wants to help other people and I love her for that.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2593266/My-baby-born-heroin-addict-Mother-says-never-forgive-taking-drugs-pregnancy.html#ixzz2xZA2QlwV
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