Bemidji Foster Parents Learn To Treat Opiate-Addicted Babies

BEMIDJI (AP) - A new training program in Bemidji is teaching foster parents how to wean infants off opioid addictions in their homes.

The program was started by Alyssa Bruning, a registered nurse at the Sanford Medical Center.

The number of infants born with opioids in their systems has doubled in Minnesota in the last five years. About 7 percent of babies born in Bemidji have drugs in their system at birth.

Many of the babies must be weaned off opioid addictions using morphine, which eases withdrawal symptoms, but requires a two-week hospital stay.

Eight longtime foster families have been taught how to administer methadone instead of morphine. It takes about a month to wean the babies off opioids, but it's easier to administer the correct dosage.

No infants have gone through the new program yet.