Baby Cuddlers Needed
Have you ever wanted a career where you get to just hold babies all day and sing lullabies? Well, now you can, hospitals all over the country are looking for Baby Cuddlers. Just imagine spending your days holding adorable babies in your arms providing safety and comfort to the little ones.
Yet, there’s a catch, these babies are going through opioid withdrawal and babies going through opioid withdrawal have a distinct way of crying: a short, anguished, high-pitched wail, repeated over and over. The babies’ experience what’s known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a collection of symptoms associated with withdrawal from heroin or other opioids. Babies with NAS feel very irritable, cry excessively in a high pitch, experience muscles stiffness and tremors, struggle to digest breast milk or formula, have loose, watery stool, suffer from skin irritation, vomit and spit up often, and feel frantic to suck.
According to a Today News Article in West Virginia, at two and a half times the national average, has the highest rate of deaths from a drug overdose—mostly from opioids. At Cabell Huntington Hospital, one in five newborns has been exposed to opioids in the womb.
“What you’re seeing here is the tip of the iceberg of substance use,” says neonatologist Sean Loudin, the unit’s medical director.
In 2012 the neonatal intensive care unit became so overwhelmed by drug-dependent babies that it had to turn away newborns with other medical needs. In response, the hospital opened a specialized unit to treat withdrawal. It typically has around 23 babies. And with one in five babies born at the hospital going through opioid withdrawal, it’s safe to say that your baby cuddler career provides a good level of job security.
With over 64,000 Americans dying from overdose every year and another 367,000 ending up in the hospital for overdose every year, I’m comfortable with declaring that we have a drug epidemic in the United States. If you have a child or a grandchild or you yourself is suffering from drug addiction please, seek treatment.
Narconon Arrowhead is Narconon’s leading drug rehabilitation center for nearly half a century, and has proven time and again that if a person can identify and overcome the initial problems that lead to their addiction, they can ultimately regain their self-respect and self-control. Should you or someone you know need help with drug or alcohol addiction, please contact Narconon Arrowhead.
