Lucy Brown did not realize she was pregnant until three months before her due date.
The 24-year-old’s life had been in disarray for the last five years, since taking Percocet after having her wisdom teeth removed. Despite her family’s attempts to help her, the drug took hold, she dropped out of college and spent time in jail.
In the spring of 2011 Lucy noticed her clothes didn’t fit, stole a pregnancy test in Wal-Mart and used it before leaving the store. When she went to the Health Department in Moore County, North Carolina, to confirm the test’s positive result and found out she was having a girl – and soon.
But this was not enough to help her kick her addiction to prescription opioids. Instead, it fueled it.
She says she remembers thinking: ‘Now I can’t stop because I have a baby who could die if I stopped using.’ She was convinced that quitting would cause her baby to experience harsh withdrawal symptoms so she continued taking 30, 40 or even 50 pills a day to satisfy her cravings.
Her reaction is not uncommon: America’s current opioid crisis has left many women far too deep in a battle with addiction to consider quitting when they find out they are pregnant. If they do decide to quit, finding doctors who can both provide prenatal care and give them the resources they need to stop using is a challenge in itself.
At eight months pregnant, Lucy found care at a clinic in North Carolina, but she did not go willingly. In between finding out she was pregnant and the beginning of her ninth month, Lucy had gotten arrested, and the only way she could avoid having her baby in prison was admitting herself to the treatment program. In retrospect, she says, the program saved her child’s life, and, in turn, having a child saved her life.
Now 30, with two healthy children – including the one she carried while abusing opioids – Lucy works at that same treatment center as an advocate for women who do not know where to turn for help.
‘A lot of these women don’t have anyone, and we’ve helped lots and lots of people. I’m just glad that I’m one of them,’ she says.
Lucy is one of four women who spoke to DailyMail.com to tell their stories of getting hooked on prescription painkillers, then desperately trying to get clean before parenthood.
