Opioid-related health issues among American pregnant women as well as newborns are increasing at a faster rate in rural areas than in urban settings, according to a new study.

A team of researchers, who hail from different universities, found that the number of infants being exposed in the womb to drugs like heroin and other addictive opioids increased more than six-fold in rural areas between 2004 and 2013. In urban areas, the number jumped more than three-fold during the same period of time.

The researchers analyzed the cases of infants who were diagnosed with NAS (neonatal abstinence syndrome), a condition characterized by painful withdrawal symptoms from narcotics.

Sharing their findings, the researchers reported, “This geographic disparity highlights the urgent need for policy makers to appropriate funding for clinicians and programs that could improve access to opioid prevention and treatment services for rural women and children.”

As per the study, NAS cases increased from 1.2 to 7.5 and from 1.4 to 4.8 per 1,000 hospital births in rural and urban areas, respectively. Deliveries complicated by the mother’s use of opioids increased from 1.3 to 8.1 and from 1.6 to 4.8 per 1,000 deliveries in rural and urban areas, respectively.

The shocking findings of the new study were detailed in the most recent edition of the JAMA Pediatrics, a peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Medical Association.