Perinatal outcome after recent cocaine usage.

Eighty-eight neonates born to mothers with a history of cocaine use during pregnancy were divided into two groups based upon the detection of cocaine metabolites in the first neonatal urine. Forty neonatal urine samples were positive for cocaine and 46 were negative. Preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes, and meconium-stained amniotic fluid were significantly more frequent in those mothers whose neonates tested positive for cocaine metabolites than in those whose infants were negative (P less than .05). Neonates testing positive were more likely to exhibit signs and symptoms of acute cocaine intoxication. Low birth weight, growth retardation, and abruptio placentae were also more frequent than would be expected in the general population, but were not statistically different between the groups. These findings suggest that the differences noted in the cocaine-positive group may represent acute and chronic exposure, whereas the negative group reflects the problems associated with chronic usage alone.