Louisville woman overcomes addiction after overdose in front of her newborn

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville woman said she was addicted to drugs while pregnant, but it took an overdose in front of her daughter to save both of their lives.

Mercury Cougler dealt with substance abuse for years.

"My mom was an addict, my dad was an addict," Cougler said. "It's a fight every single day."

Before her daughter, drugs were the light of her life.

"Next thing I know, I was doing hard drugs, heroin, meth and they went hand in hand," Cougler said.

In her 20s, Cougler said she even started doing drugs with her mother.

"My mom was more of a drug buddy than anything," Cougler said.

Occasionally she sold drugs and sometimes found herself living on the streets.

"It got to a point that I did not care about anything or anybody who I hurt, who I manipulated, other than getting high one more time," Cougler said. "That's all that it consisted of."

That changed when she met her partner Arthur about 10 years ago.

"He was really played a big part in me changing my life," Cougler said.

PREGNANCY WHILE ADDICTED — Mercury Cougler and her daughter Journie.

She quickly realized it wasn't easy to quit.

"I was trying to do better for him," Cougler said. "I was trying to do better for everything but myself and I did want to get better. I just didn't want to do the work to do better."

For years, Cougler was in and out of jail on drug charges. She was there sometimes long enough to sober up.

After dealing with infertility, in 2019 she became pregnant. She was five months along when she found out and was still actively using meth and heroin.

"When I got pregnant with her, I was miserable, I was exhausted," Cougler said. "I had seen too much and I knew like I had proved to myself this is not going to get any better. This is only going to get worse."

Substance abuse during pregnancy can lead to problems and in extreme case death, according to doctors. A more common outcome is neonatal abstinence syndrome, according to Dr. Kendal Stephens.

"Neonatal abstinence syndrome is withdrawal from the substances," said Stephens, director of the MOST Program at Norton Healthcare. "Now that they're no longer in the mother's system they're not exposed to those drugs, and so they'' often have the symptoms of withdrawal just like an adult would."

The issue is so prevalent that Norton Women's and Children's Hospital has a specific NICU for these newborns.

The lights are turned off, it's quiet and with specific care, babies can overcome it. Stephens hopes women facing drug addictions will come to them sooner.

"Even in the third trimester, it's not too late," Stephens said.

The Maternal Opiate and Substance Treatment, also known as MOST, started in 2015. The program helps pregnant women safely stop using with the help of medications like suboxone, but also provides wrap around services like therapy and peer support groups.

"Not everybody understands addiction at all, but especially doesn't understand using when you're pregnant," Cougler said. "'I can't believe you use why you're pregnant.' I can't believe I did either. But drugs have a hold of you, you do things that you don't want to do."

With the help of the program, Cougler had her baby on Jan. 6, 2022.

"I got sober, I stayed sober, I had her by the grace of God," Cougler said. "She did not having anything in her system. She did not detox."

Her daughter's name was appropriately decided to be Journie.

"It had been such a journey," Cougler said.

But there was still one more threat looming. Postpartum mothers who return to using have the highest chance of overdose.

"I would like to tell you I stayed sober but I did not," Cougler said.

Cougler's mother died the same day she gave birth to Journie. Two months later, Cougler's grandmother also died.

Alone at home with two-month-old Journie, Cougler overdosed.

"Thank God Arthur had come home from work because I would have laid there and I would have died," Cougler said. "My baby would have laid there, but that was it for me. I meant it that time."

More than two years later, Cougler is clean and works at Seven Counties Services on the peer support team.

"If I can do this, anybody can do this, truly," Cougler said.

She is now helping others on paths just like hers, on the road to recovery.

"I want to teach her things that nobody taught me," Cougler said.

Cougler calls her daughter the light of her life and helps keep her strong.

"I want to teach her things that nobody taught me," Cougler said. "I have to do this for me, so I can be there for her."

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.