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Doctors call for changes to laws that criminalize drug use during pregnancy

Overdoses are a leading cause of preventable death among pregnant and postpartum women, yet fears of child abuse laws stop them from seeking help.

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Brandi Williams had been up for two straight days smoking crack cocaine when she realized she was going into labor.

It was a cold Tennessee morning in December 2014, and Williams had to pull herself together to get to a hospital. She borrowed a car from a friend whose excessive alcohol use required him to have a breathalyzer attached to the car’s starter.

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“Here I am in full-blown labor, driving myself and I can feel the baby’s head, like, right there,” Williams recalls. “And I’m having to blow in this damn machine or the car would shut off.”

She made it to the hospital in time. As she walked through the doors to give birth to her daughter, Williams made one last preparation before delivery.

Read the full report from NBC News.


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