Os efeitos do crack na gestação e nos bebês nascidos de mães usuárias: Uma revisão bibliográfica

Considering the significant increase in crack use in the Brazilian population, studies on this subject have appeared timidly as of the first decade of this century. The media is responsible for addressing the issue through its high penetration in society with a limited speech, that of exclusion. For this reason, studies by experts and researchers are needed. When speaking of the effects of crack in children, studies are even scarcer. The purpose of this article was to carry out a literature review to know what is being studied about the possible effects of crack use\udduring pregnancy. To this end, a search was conducted at the following database: CAPES - Theses and Dissertations,\udMEDLINE, LILACS, and sites of public agencies related to health, using the descriptors “crack cocaine”, “fetus”, “newborn”, and “pregnancy”. The search occurred in 2012/2013 and publications from 2000 to 2013, written in Portuguese, Spanish and English were included. The sample consisted of three theses, seven dissertations, and 28 articles, chosen after reading the summary and further reading in full. It was possible to observe that there has been advancement in the interest for the area, although there are still gaps in relation to the issue arising in the field of anthropology, sociology and psychology, with prevalence of biological studies. We found that some damage may occur due to prenatal exposure to crack in children of addicted mothers, but the long-term effects cannot yet be proven, since factors external to drug use can also be directly related to these consequences