A growing number of women report using marijuana during their pregnancy. Many of them report smoking marijuana while meaning in an try to combat severe morn sickness. (There'due south no medical testify it does, and OBGYNs don't recommend it.)

Merely is smoking marijuana while pregnant worth the risk?

How Does Marijuana Impact A Developing Infant?

What you swallow, smoke and potable during pregnancy and later on nativity passes to your babe through your placenta and breastmilk. The chemic THC, found in marijuana, likewise crosses the placenta from the mother to the infant's bloodstream.The drug exerts its effects by stimulating so-called cannabinoid receptors. And fetal cannabinoid receptors start to develop in the first trimester.

What Are The Dangers Of Smoking Marijuana During Pregnancy?

Smoking marijuana while meaning does accept health effects on your baby.

"There's a common misconception that because [marijuana] is a plant, it's safe," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the U.S. National Constitute on Drug Corruption.

With marijuana use in pregnancy, your baby may also exist more than likely to have:

  • A lower birth weight
  • Aberrant sleep patterns, tremors and prolonged and exaggerated startle reflexes as an baby
  • Higher risk of cigarette and marijuana smoking as a teenager
  • Higher rates of behavior problems or problems learning
  • Higher rates of mental health problems, including psychosis

There may besides exist a higher risk of some birth defects, stillbirth or miscarriage, premature nativity and admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). A written report in the Periodical of the American Medical Association reviewing more than than 660,000 pregnancies establish the rate of preterm nascency among reported cannabis users was significantly college than nonusers - well-nigh 12%.

Growing enquiry is showing that THC may change the way your infant's brain grows and develops. In fact, the Surgeon Full general issued a health advisory on marijuana use among pregnant women.

"No amount of marijuana utilise during pregnancy or boyhood is known to be safe," the Surgeon Full general's advisory on marijuana utilise during pregnancy says. "Until and unless more is known well-nigh the long-term bear upon, the safest choice for meaning women and adolescents is not to use marijuana."

(You lot can read the full informational here.)

"Years of research take proven that alcohol prevents normal evolution and growth of babies' brains," said Pamela Lynch, MD, who practices family medicine/obstetrics at Franciscan Md Network Mooresville Family Care. "This was the #ane cause of evolution delays in children until we had enough proof to convince moms that they were permanently harming their children. You lot don't desire your kid to be part of the data showing the negative effects of marijuana in 20 years."

How Does Marijuana Utilise Affect Your Child?

Children who have been exposed to marijuana may demonstrate lower levels of:

  • Verbal reasoning and memory
  • Language comprehension
  • Memory
  • Reading
  • Executive operation tasks, including impulse control and problem-solving

Older children and teens who were exposed to marijuana show college rates of:

  • Depression
  • Substance abuse
  • Problem behaviors

Other Health Risks Of Marijuana Use During Pregnancy

Smoking marijuana while meaning also exposes your baby to carbon monoxide (five times more than with cigarettes), which lowers the amount of oxygen available in the baby's bloodstream.

Second-hand fume from marijuana may likewise impact your baby's long-term wellness.

Is Medical Marijuana Safety For Meaning Mothers?

Medical marijuana is not regulated or approved by the Nutrient and Drug Assistants nor is it recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Talk to your prenatal intendance provider about safer options if you are pregnant and are considering smoking marijuana to help morn sickness or if you lot use marijuana for medical or recreational purposes.

Whatsoever marijuana apply tin bear on your ability to think clearly, stay alert, make good decisions and reply to the needs of your baby. Marijuana use includes:

  • Smoking marijuana, including dabs
  • Eating and drinking marijuana in any form
  • Using vaporizers
  • Eating or smoking wax or hash
  • Whatsoever other methods, including creams or lotions

Using marijuana can change your judgment and put you at a higher risk for dizziness, putting y'all at take a chance of injury and falls, which tin be harmful for the female parent and baby.

Other health risks of smoking marijuana include:

  • Damage to your lungs
  • Lowered level of oxygen in your torso, which increases the hazard of breathing problems
  • Increase in anemia

What Is Cannabis Apply Disorder?

Cannabis use disorder may be diagnosed when a person has more than i sign of trouble use -- such every bit strong cravings to take the drug, withdrawal symptoms, and standing to use information technology even when it's causing problems at work or in relationships.

Based on medical records, few meaning women in the report had a marijuana apply disorder. Merely the rate increased over fourth dimension -- from simply under 3 per 1,000 in 2001, to about 7 per one,000 in 2012.

What Are Risks For Babies Of Moms With Cannabis Use Disorder?

Babies born to moms with cannabis utilize disorder were more than likely to be born early and underweight, versus babies whose mothers did not take the disorder but were similar in terms of race, didactics and overall health.

They were 6% more likely to be built-in preterm and 13% more likely to be either underweight or small-scale for gestational age -- a sign of growth restriction in the womb.

The risks were greater when moms used both marijuana and tobacco. But pot use was a hazard gene regardless of cigarette smoking, the researchers said.

And while few babies died during the first year of life -- fewer than ane% -- those whose moms used marijuana heavily had a 35% higher risk.

What Are The Effects Of Smoking Marijuana While Breastfeeding?

Smoking marijuana while breastfeeding is not safe for your baby. THC builds up in breast milk as much every bit viii times college than in a female parent'south bloodstream. THC is then captivated into a baby'south bloodstream and can be stored in a baby's fatty tissue for weeks to months. THC too gets into a baby's brain and can make a baby extra sleepy and non feed very well. It tin can besides crusade delays in a baby'southward development.

Marijuana has also been shown to incorporate other unsafe substances, including toxins from pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. These chemicals tin too transfer through the breast milk.

Are Edibles A Safer Culling to Smoking?

People often believe that "edibles" are a safer way to consume marijuana. But while there's no smoking involved, Volkow said edibles have their problems.

"It takes longer for the furnishings of edibles to emerge, so people may go on taking more," she said. They tin can cease upward consuming a THC dose large enough to land them in the emergency room.

How Many Women Utilise Marijuana During Pregnancy?

A U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse study plant that between 2002 and 2017, the number of U.S. pregnant women who said they'd used marijuana in the past month doubled -- from nigh three.5% to 7%. Of women who apply pot during pregnancy, 80% also smoke cigarettes. The new written report, published April 22 in the journalAddiction, was large, looking at data from 4.8 million births in California. That gave the researchers a take a chance to zero in on women who used marijuana regularly but not tobacco.

>Need Help Quitting?

Franciscan Health offers a variety of programs to assistance with those wanting to finish marijuana apply. Services include comprehensive assessment, individual and grouping therapy, and Intensive Outpatient Plan, depending on your goals and current needs.

For 24 hour or emergency aid, phone call the Substance Abuse and Mental Wellness Association (SAMHSA) National Helpline at ane-800-662-Help (4357).

Is it safe to smoke marijuana while pregnant?