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Report: Scioto County Leads Ohio In Drug-Addicted Births
By: Associated Press
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PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (AP) — A recent report from the Children’s Defense Fund has found that Scioto County in south-central Ohio has the highest birth rate of drug-addicted babies in the state.
The study says 76 babies in every 1,000 live births in Scioto County are born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome.
The Portsmouth Daily Times reports infants born in Ohio’s Appalachian region are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with NAS compared with the state average.
A nurse manager in Southern Ohio Medical Center’s maternity department says about 12 to 13 percent of babies born each year at the hospital have tested positive for an illegal substance.
Just behind Scioto County is Lawrence County with 67 drug-addicted babies in 1,000 live births and Pike County at 58 per 1,000 live births.