During this hour-long program, Drug Dependent Newborns, see how doctors, nurses, and other professionals treat these tiny addicts and why it is so expensive and time-consuming. We’ll learn why some pregnant women do not seek help during their pregnancy and why abruptly stopping prescription use can be harmful for both mother and the baby. Hear how law enforcement and other emergency responders play a big role in insuring help for the newborns.

Key Concepts:

  • Understand the scope of the problem
  • Learn how prescription-dependent babies are treated
  • Understand why some pregnant women do not seek help
  • See how law enforcement and emergency responders play a role in protecting these babies

Originally Aired: March 29, 2012

Panelists

Dr. Henrietta Bada-Ellzey

Neonatologist, Professor of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

Dr. Henrietta Bada-Ellzey is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and a Professor at the College of Public Health. She also serves as Vice-Chair for Academic affairs and Research in the Department of Pediatrics. Her subspecialty is neonatology, dealing with the intensive care of the premature and high-risk infants

Her areas of research interest include newborn brain disorders, perinatal addiction, and developmental follow-up. Dr. Bada-Ellzey has served as one of the funded investigators of the Maternal Lifestyle Study, a prospective and longitudinal follow-up of children who were exposed to cocaine and/or opiates in utero. The follow-up period for the study extended to 15 years of age, made possible with funding from various federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Bada-Ellzey has a medical degree from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines and completed her residency and fellowship at the University of Louisville. She also has a master’s degree in public health from the University of South Florida College of Public Health.

Kay M. Doughty

Vice President of Family and Community Services, Operation PAR, Inc., Pinellas County, FL

Kay Doughty has spent 25 years working in the field of Substance Abuse as a supervisor of prevention, intervention and treatment programs, including methadone maintenance.

Doughty is currently Vice President of Family and Community Services at Operation PAR, Inc., a substance abuse prevention, intervention and treatment provider in Pinellas County, Florida. In this role, she supervises prevention services and outpatient services, with a particular focus on women and their children.

Doughty is a Masters level Certified Prevention Professional and a Certified Addiction Professional. She was named as Professional of the Year by the Florida School of Addictions in 2000 and is listed in the Who’s Who of Prevention Leaders in Florida.

Sheri Smith

Director of Critical Services, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, Knoxville, TN

Sheri Smith has been practicing the art of nursing for the past 27 years, all of them in the neonatal and pediatric setting.

She has served as the Director of Critical Care Services at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital since 2004. In her role, she oversees the operation, budgeting, and oversight for the neonatal intensive care unit, the pediatric intensive care unit, the emergency department, the neonatal and pediatric transport teams, and the neonatal nurse clinician program.

Smith also serves on several boards and committees in Tennessee and leads the women’s ministry at her church. Smith is the administrative lead for The Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Project, combining both the ministry and medical aspects of her life.

She received a bachelor of science in nursing from Chamberlain College of Nursing.