Can I smoke marijuana while pregnant?
When I was researching morning sickness remedies I came across a bunch of posts where women were managing their morning sickness with cannabis. What?! Really?! Of course I had to look into the ill effects of smoking weed/pot/marijuana/bit o' the bumble while pregnant because I just had to know, plus, the question was harshing my buzz (just kidding).
Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is rapidly absorbed from the lungs into the bloodstream and is metabolized primarily by the liver. It does cross the placenta.
Although marijuana is not an established human teratogen, recent studies suggest it may contribute slightly to sleep disturbances, impaired visual problem solving and hyperactive, inattentive, and impulsive behaviour. So kids that are a little batshit.
On the flip side, a study was conducted in Jamaica, where the women who used the large doses of marijuana were better educated and more independent than women who consumed the small doses of marijuana. The one-month old infants of the heavy marijuana-using mothers had better scores on autonomic stability, quality of alertness, irritability, and self-regulation. It's suggested that these differences related to the characteristics of the mothers using marijuana rather than the marijuana itself.
I found it interesting that when there are ill effects, it is attributed to the drug but when there are positive effects, it's attributed to other factors in the study but I digress.
As mentioned above, isolating the effect of cannabis from other factors (e.g., social and economical factors, nutrition, and the use of other drugs) is difficult so it's unlikely there will be much more information until someone can legally make a lot of money off cannabis like a pharmaceutical company (or the Keebler Elves).
In short, none of the studies show any significantly difference in spontaneous abortion, birth weight, malformation or postnatal mortality but I'm not sure how reassuring that is.
On a side note, I found an interesting study that was done on pregnant rats where the offspring of the rats that were administered high doses of THC in sesame oil had impaired nipple attachment. Then they figured out that it may be because they didn't give those rats enough food or water. Er, okay. Why do I feel like those guys just smoked half the study then forgot to feed the rats? "Dude, when was the last time those pregnant rats had water? You know what would be cool, is if we could train the rats to do our thesis. Write that down, man. Are there any chips left? Awesome."
search: marijuana pregnancy, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol pregnancy
32 Comments
Reader Comments (32)
i also read that same study about the Jamaican women (thank you Jack Herrer, RIP)... some of the drugs prescribed to me for having severe hyperemesis (i lost 30lbs in 13 weeks) seemed more dangerous, to me, from what research i did while i was pregnant, than marijuana did. there's not enough information on this subject, so you're awesome for posting this.
There is more to this morning sickness thing; A condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum. The HER foundation www.helpher.org giving info and support to women who have it or for loved ones trying to understand it. I would say there are a lot of people who are unaware of a difference between regular ole morning sickness and HG. For women who have this, Cannabis I would think is a better alternative then loosing 30 pounds, being dehydrated and wanting to die the whole time they are pregnant. Medical Cannabis was just passed in my state and would fully support women using this method when other drugs do not work.
There is also a couple great articles on its use on www.mothering.com. I found at lest 2 articles when I searched for Cannabis.
Sorry for being so serious on the matter but I had to jump at an opportunity to share some info.
I did not use cannabis while pregnant, but I can't fault those that do for hyperemisis. I did not have HG - but I had terrible morning sickness - just not enough to cause dehydration...I held out for a long time trying not to take Zofran or other anti-nausea meds for fear that in 30 yrs they will come back & say "well, guess what - it causes x, y & z in the babies"...but I couldn't really function anymore & after 5 months of vomiting - I gave in. Had I not had to fear for custody of my kids, I would have rather tried something that I at least know has been around long enough that we know they won't grow up to have reproductive cancer or something else that is awful as a result. I am not sure why as a culture it is acceptable to take pharmaceuticals that we know little about the potential long term implications & that is not only accepted, but encouraged, but if you want to try something natural like cannabis, you are a reckless parent that requires CPS visits. Sad really & frankly a bit scary too.
To any other women interested in this sort of research I'd recommend Dr. Melanie Dreher, who has a lot of reading material on the web.
A while into my pregnancy I began to smoke weed again, and I'm not gonna lie, there's no amount of chamomile tea or ginger biscuits that could replace it. It's obviously not a cure and I don't shout it from the rooftops, but when you're caught between anxiety, hormone headaches, back ache, morning sickness and not being able to eat a damn thing!!
I've found with things like this, you'd be better off speaking to other mothers about their experiences than reading a wishy-washy article by some crusty old man who's never had a joint or a uterus! It's all about scare-mongering, and I don't know how it is that we trust something we read on the internet, that frankly, could have been written by someone of NotDr. Gillian Mckieth's ilk - than talk to each other x
My ex and I were total hippies when our daughter was born in 1993. We both quit smoking cigarettes when she got pregnant, and she didn't drink. As delivery got closer we stopped smoking marijuana until our midwives suggested we try it to speed things along. She was past her due date by a week and a half. Anyway, we made a spaghetti sauce with a special ingredient, and fell asleep. Four hours later, woke up in labor, and delivered after a 3.5 hour labor. My daughter was just awarded a scholarship to University of Michigan where she plans to study medicine.
Its a plant. Not like poison ivy or tobacco.
Just my opinion-
hey there,
it's everyone's personal choice whether they do any of the 'forbidden things' on the pregnancy DO NOT DO list...but i just have to pipe in here...i had horrible morning sickness with both of my pregnancies, and diclectin did nothing to ease it. i had a friend who suggested i try smoking pot and after some research and making a more informed decision i tried it. lo and behold, it worked! i had stopped when i got pregnant (hubby and i have always been avid smokers), but quickly gave up on that once i found the benefits to be much greater than any prescription med they could have prescribed for m/s.
i smoked through about half of my first pregnancy and through most of my second...i even had a couple of glasses of wine each week (no more than one at a time though...). *gasp*....and have two happy, healthy, intelligent, affectionate children to show for it.
i`m of the mind that everything in moderation is okay (even hotdogs and subway assorted subs!)...unless it`s crack cocaine or prescription drugs. :P
I smoked with all 3 of my kids.. Not all the time, but maybe a couple of hits on a special occasion. I am proud to say that my 2 girls are incredibly intelligent! My first grader is a straight A student, with a popularity level that would make Britney Spears blush, and best of all she reads at a 4th grade level and is learning at a 2nd grade level. My 20 month old speaks in full sentences--which at 20 months is about all she does that is incredible. haha. I don't really see any harm whatsoever in smoking marijuana while pregnant. Couldnt be any more harmful than the recommended glass of wine a week.
just in response to 2 posts above me, i do i agree that everything in moderation (except thalidomide) is very likely fine... but to be scientifically accurate, that is more true for "crack cocaine" than it is for alcohol. actually cocaine and heroin have been shown to be much LESS harmful than alcohol to a developing fetus - interesting no? except for the withdrawal part if the moms are addicts :( poor little ones. but no evidence of birth defects or other developmental issues related to those drugs (even though they're illegal and sound shocking!) the main problems are that coke and heroin are so addictive that the addiction itself causes health issues (poor nutrition and sleep, not enough shelter, staying in abusive relationships, etc).
alcohol, on the other hand, isn't so (obviously) addictive (though of course it is to some people) but actually can, in large, constant doses, cause FAS.
but i think alcohol in moderation is fine too. so therefore, using my basic logic skills:
cocaine is better than alcohol. alcohol is ok in moderation... let's get out our crack pipes, ladies!
just kidding, but you get the point. certain activities and substances get stigmatized for almost purely social/cultural reasons, from irrational hysteria, and the fake "i don't know anything about science except this little bit to spread rampant misinformation" propaganda is just annoying, especially to a pregnant scientist like me!
so thanks for this blog. you're taking it down a notch for america :)
Hi. Thankyou for this article. I am five weeks pregnant with my second baby. with my first pregnancy i stopped smoking weed in the first trimester, however after that had about one joint a day until 3 weeks before her birth. i'm finding it harder to to stay away from the weed because i know my first baby is happy, healthy, reaching all the right milestones etc. I guess i'm just after a bit of reasurance that smoking early on won't harm my baby. Are there any mothers out there who smoked in their first trimester and if so was everything fine, are your children now, normal, bright, socially addaptable?
I find all this information and personal experience very interesting. I am an avid smoker, well was before concieving. I completely quit after 6months just because Im scared of the reprecussions as far as custody and legal responsibility. It seems to me that there SHOULD be alot more research done especially since it is legal for me to use marijuanna with a prescription. Dont you think the government or FDA or whoever is in charge of such things should take it upon themselves to figure out, HEY SHOULD WE BE FEEDING PREGNANT WOMEN PILLS OR JUST LET THEM SMOKE A FEW J'S?
I also smoked throughout my pregnancy, almost 50 years ago. My daughter is smart, smart, smart--and won't smoke ANYTHING.
As far as cocaine goes, the person who said there are no ill effects for the baby is wrong. Coke babies are more irritable, cry more, and don't feed as well as non-coke babies. Babies whose mothers have used heroin are often addicted at birth, and that's not a good way to start life.
what i actually said was that cocaine and heroin have not been shown to cause birth defects, as alcohol has. and that of course the withdrawal syndrome can be terrible for babies who are born to addicted mothers. however, this primarily occurs when the mother is addicted and using all the time, not if she parties once or twice during her pregnancy. my point was not that "there are no ill effects" from coke and heroin, please re-read my post. my point was that, compared to alcohol, those babies recover. there is no recovering from fetal alcohol syndrome. and how interesting that those drugs are stigmatized as being more dangerous than alcohol, when in fact they are not. it's called cultural analysis.
Hey, if it works and does not harm the baby and helps the mother feel less sick then why not? (except for that little detail about it being illegal, unless your lucky enough to be able to get a medical marijuana Rx).... Or if your are against it then just don't do it.
What's unfortunate about that Lia is even with a medical Rx it is STILL illegal to consume marijuanna while pregnant. I have a Rx and it states on my license that the due to the lack of research and information he does not reccomend marijuanna while pregnant or nursing. There is too much gray area where this is concerned! I would LOVE to see some valid research on this topic. If it weren't for being able to smoke, I don't know what I would have done the first several months of my pregnancy. I was SO sick all the time, it was terrible! The only thing that helped, and made me want to even eat, was smoking a joint!
madi - i agree that there should be a lot more research done on marijuana and pregnancy, especially as it is such an effective treatment for nausea and vomiting, and is most likely much less toxic than other prescription drugs commonly used for this purpose.
however, it is not "illegal" to smoke weed while pregnant IF you have a prescription for it. your doctor might not RECOMMEND it, and you might have to use it "off-label" - but just being pregnant doesn't make any medicine "illegal" to take. they give all meds pregnancy categories (A, B, C, D, X), and it is up to the mother to decide what risks she is willing to take. if someone is telling you that it is illegal just because you are pregnant, they are not telling you the truth.
but of course, whether or not medical marijuana is legal at all depends on your definition of the word "legal" - medical marijuana is legal in california, for example, but the federal government can still bust you for it. i definitely look forward to the day when there is no legal gray area re: this!
Hmmm. Well when I asked my OBGYN about it she said if they were to test my babies blood for any reason and he came up with marijuanna in his system they could take him away as it is illegal for him to have any contact with it. So this is something I'd definately like to find a for sure answer about since I'm still nursing and still hold a Rx that I'm not using!
I smoked while I was pregnant to not only help with my nausea but my sciatic nerve pain. At 24 weeks my placenta abrupted and while I was at the hospital, I was drug tested. I had child protective services in my room that night. We took my son off life support 4 days later. Machines were doing everything for him. I had to have a safety plan when it came to my 7yr old. I was not allowed to be with him by myself. This was just lifted a few weeks ago. I am in drug rehab and I have to go to NA meetings. CPS tested my baby and he did not test positive. CPS spent a long time trying to prove that my smoking is what caused his early birth. I am still under investigation but it should all be over by April. This started in October 2010. It has been a crazy roller coaster and the worst is my counselors in rehab and for grief see nothing wrong with what I did. The doctors told me I did nothing wrong but I live in Texas and I was nearly condemned for smoking a little pot after working a 13 hr day to help with sickness, pain and sleep. I see nothing wrong with it but it is illegal and until that is changed I will NEVER put my family at risk again. But I am sure there is something legal they can give me and who knows what that will do! (gotta love sarcasm)
I continued to smoke throughout my first trimester, and sporadically through the second and third. So far my son is very smart and healthy - he is nearly two. All of the milestones he has reached on time or early. I think that most presciption medications - as stated above - are more harmful than marijuana. Lung issues notwithstanding of course.
I have a close friend who is an obgyn, and she smoked throughout her two pregnancies and she told me that a vapourizer is a great option because you get less smoke with the same effects (I recommend an Iolite). I also just told my own doctor so if they did test the baby's blood there would be no surprises. I don't advise you Americans do that! In Canada marijuana in the home is not generally considered a hazard unless it is combined with other things like neglect, abuse or hard drugs. My own doctor confirmed that it would be fine in moderation, and a specialist I saw gave me a third thumbs up. Good luck everyone!
Hi I just read this and I'm glad to hear my personal opinions echoed along with other mothers out there.
This is my second pregnancy. I almost died with my first. I had sever HS and lost about 55 lbs. I was visiting the hospital every single day for IV's. It was horrible.
I was told I wouldn't be able to have any more children and that if I did succeed at getting pregnant I wouldn't be able to carry to term. I've had 8 miscarriages and was running out of hope when 25 weeks ago a miracle happened and I got pregnant again.
I was horribly sick, I couldn't get out of bed I couldn't eat I couldn't sleep...I was looking for a miracle. Then I heard through the grapevine that some women had great success with MJ while pregnant.
So I did some research and amid the jumble of false media and wild speculation I couldn't find a single conclusive study that said it would harm the fetus.
So I started smoking, and I have to say it's the absolute best decision I could have made for myself.
It's 25 weeks later and I am still smoking. but I've gained 6lbs I can go outside or go to the store or clean the house, and the baby is developing FABULOUSLY.
I was perscribed Phenergren and Zofran both of which made me violently sick after taking them.
I thank god every day for the gift he has given me and hearing other women's stories makes me feel a little less stressed out about my decision.
I feel sad knowing how different my first pregnancy could have been had I tried MJ the first time, How different things could have turned out.
Did Marijuana help to save my baby? I think it did.
I stopped smoking MJ when I was pregnant thr first and second time, but when I got pregnant the third time I started looking into it more. I found several pieces of information (like what everyone else has looked up) that really didn't say anything bad. Even my OB told me that it wasn't the worst thing I could do and that Big Brother wasn't gonna be watching me or anything but he couldn't "okay" me to do it. It was a choice I had to make. I found out later I was being drug tested by my other high risk provider and that p*ssed me off because it was not what my OB told me. So when baby was born they tested him and that was it. No one came to talk to me about it and CPS never came. End of story. With my next pregnancy I came into my OB with info printed out and she said to save it for the counselor I'd be seeing because it didn't matter to her. I talked to their counselor and she tried to tell me how bad it was and gave me their fear-mongering pamphlets but I gave her all the info I had and asked flat out how it's any worse than the Rx pain meds they were giving me or willing to give me. How is it worse for my baby than Morphine? When I got closer to delivery my OB warned me that someone could potentially come in to talk to me about it but again, no one did. With my current pregnancy I have a new provider, new hospital and such but I have no idea what will happen. It's been decriminalized in my state so I'm not sure how that will play into it. I told my OB and her nurse from the get go and they said okay, but nothing illegal? BTW, my 2 youngest kids are very healthy, intelligent and score above average on their tests. One had his IQ tested and it was 131! So yeah, I highly doubt that it causes any type of developmental delay. One of the two is super lean and limber but still healthy, the other one is super solid and muscular. I mean they're so different in many ways, yet both super smart. Enviornment has a lot to do with these studies and many of these women who participated didn't smoke ONLY pot. None of the negative studies were controlled so it's hard to say what the results really mean. In Jamaica it's less cigarettes and hard drugs and mostly MJ! Anyway, its sad that women will are scared to do something that actually helps their morning sickness and other symptoms yet will take an Rx their OB hands them without question. It's sad that CPS even gets involved in these kinds of cases when there are children actually being neglected and abused.
When I found out I was pregnant with my first I smoked weed every day, drank OFTEN and smoked about a half pack of cigarettes a day. I quit drinking cold turkey, it took me about 5 months to get off weed and hash, but continued to smoke cigarettes throughout the pregnancy, although I cut down considerably, having 1-3 cigarettes a day.
I have to say that I don't think pregnant women should smoke weed if they can help it. I can just imagine a poor little paranoid fetus tripping out in the womb. It was very, very difficult for me to stop smoking weed but I did it and haven't smoked since, except for a puff when the babygirl is being babysat for the night. I think quitting was the best thing I could have done both for myself and for her.
That said, I know that there are no conclusive studies as to the positive or negative effects that smoking weed has on pregnancies. My quitting was something I wanted to do, and it was not because of any study or unsolicited advice. I would never judge another woman for smoking weed while pregnant. After all, I did smoke for 5 months of my pregnancy and continued to smoke cigarettes, and my daughter is a beautiful, healthy and smart girl.
I smoked marijuana throughout my first trimester and it worked wonders fighting off morning sickness...the only time I suffered was in situations where I was unable to smoke (i.e. at work). However, I would like to throw in 2 cautions. First, if you are already feeling sleepy all the time, marijuana is not going to help that situation. Second, you might want to cut yourself off when you start getting close to delivery time. Many states, including the one I live in, routinely drug test newborns and finding evidence of THC can result in government and law agencies being called in.
I don't know about you guys but when I smoke weed, I have no problem concentrating at all and I don't forget things, and I am not demotivated, actually I am much more creative and sparked to do stuff when I smoke (not a whole joint or anything, I mean, if I have a few hits I can still function just as well).
I also find it interesting that there's never any real proof about all the warnings they give, it makes me think they did do some research but because the big pharmaceutic company can't really pattent it, they don't want anyone to know the actual results..
All I think if that it was really harmful, as it has been used medicinally and recreationally for over 8000 years, it would be known, just like it is known which herbs and berries are definitly dangerous. Of course that doesn't have to mean anything, as we discover things every day that are previously stated as not dangerous suddenly becomes dangerous because there's proof it is. But I have yet to see proof that marijuana is a bad thing when you use it sensibly and not abuse it. cause remember, all excess is bad, cause even a harmless thing like water can be dangerous when used wrongly or excesivly. that doesn't mean we should prohibit it :)
I am 6 months pregnant and this is the first article I have come across with recent actual encounters of mothers who smoke pot while pregnant. I actually quit yesterday and am already being taken over by the nausea. The only reason I quit is because I have spoken to two women who's baby's were tested at birth and now they are wrapped up in a big mess with Child Protective Services and I was asked at my last OB visit if I smoked marijuana out of the blue, so want to test negative if they are testing me. I live in Florida.
This is my second child and I didnt smoke at all with my first baby and she actually ended up having gastroschisis. Avoiding Child Protective Services is more important to me and I am sucking up the nausea and will have to pull through. Much luck to all out there and I hope to be able to update after birth that everything is healthy and normal