Shocking! Heartbreaking video of babies born addicted to drugs - Watch

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: This might come as shocking news to many, but reports revealed that in America, a baby is born dependent on opioids every 19 minutes - a devastating affliction inherited from their drug-addict moms.

The first weeks of babies born with a drug dependency are agonising as they battle a condition called Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). The condition can cause infants to tremble, struggle to eat and often choke during feeds.

NAS is a result of the sudden discontinuation of fetal exposure to substances that were used or abused by the mother during pregnancy.

More than 130,000 babies in the US were born addicted to drugs over the last decade even as the country is in the midst of an opioid addiction epidemic that extends to pregnant women.

Here's a heart-wrenching video that reveals the horror of babies born addicted to drugs. In the video, the tiny legs of a newborn whose mother used opioids during pregnancy are seen shivering uncontrollably.

Video credit: AJ+/YouTube

The video is part of an investigation by Reuters into the horrifying condition of the babies who inherited from their drug-addict mothers while in their wombs.