The Casper Police Department, Wyoming Medical Center and others are working on a new set of guidelines for dealing with women who use methamphetamine while pregnant.

Six percent of babies born in Natrona County in 2005 have been born with meth in their systems or born to meth-addicted mothers, said Police Chief Tom Pagel.

Hospital staff want a universal procedure to follow when they suspect a mother of using meth.

That way, "You're actually basing it on a specific set of criteria," said Cheryl Graff, Women's Services Coordinator at the hospital. "It takes the pressure off the nurses."

Otherwise, they're sometimes guessing about who might be using, and possibly making judgments about women based on their looks, education or economic status.

"You have to be very careful," Graff said.

Pagel spoke Tuesday to doctors, nurses and other health care providers at the medical center. He'll return next Tuesday to address the specifics of the plan, and the shortcomings of the data.

He gave a slide show including pictures of sickly babies, and asked for help protecting children from drug abuse.

"I need you to deal with this problem," Pagel said. "You can help in ways that no one else can."

The guidelines will have to strike a balance between a mother's right to medical privacy, and the need to keep babies from the powerful and damaging effect of the drug. There is concern that if medical staff reported drug abuse, mothers would not seek important prenatal care.

Pagel showed pictures of the filthy homes where people use and make meth, as a way to warn health care providers about where babies end up when they leave the hospital.

"I could absolutely care less about arresting the mothers, but we do not want kids going back into these conditions," he said. "You guys are in a tough spot, but you're also a very important part of Casper's response to meth."

In another effort to protect kids, the police department has begun working more closely with probation and parole officers and the Department of Family Services to get more children out of homes where drug abuse is rampant.

Parole officers are doing random drug tests and home visits, and contacting police and DFS when someone tests positive for meth and has children in their home.

Of the roughly 130 Natrona County children in state custody, about 90 are there because of meth use or drug-related abuse in their families, said Pagel and DFS.

Pagel said many drugs are cyclical, but that meth seems to be holding on in Wyoming.

"We're at a stage where we can lose our most important resource, and that's our people."

Reach Barbara Nordby at (307) 266-0633 or at barbara.nordby@casperstartribune.net.