marijuana and pregnancy

on the other hand, a good friend of mine smoked while she was preggo with both her children and they're both normal, extremely smart, healthy boys. they have giant heads but so does their momma
youre taking a risk either way
its for the pregnant mom to decide if its worth the risk to her/her baby

 

My mother did drugs when she was pregnant with me, hard drugs too.

Not to toot my own horn but I'd say I'm rather intelligent, grew up tall and healthy, ect.

Still doesn't mean it was a good idea.

 

Can you please show me the studies where it shows that marijuana use in pregnancy is harmful? I know you said you are not a researcher, but the fact remains that there are none.

I know I have done what I would consider a lot of research on the subject and the only studies where they actually followed mothers and their children indicate that the children were further advanced then non pot smoking mothers at one year of age. The only other thing that the study indicated is that these children may have more difficulty with sleep during their first two years of life.

That is taken directly out of a University textbook.

The truth is that no one has put much effort into studying this... doesn't it make you wonder why a government that is anti drugs wouldn't provide testing to PROVE that marijuana in facts hurts unborn babies?

In my experience, mother's who smoke marijuana while pregnant have researched as much as they could about it and made an informed choice. Also, I have never met a pregnant mother who was chronic that continued smoking those amounts. They usually reserved it for when they were nauseous or had other issues (sleeping, etc).

I think the most important thing a person can have is open dialogue with their doctor and be honest about it. The sad part is that many mom's in the US are afraid to be honest with their doc's because of the laws there (or so I have read online). I know in Canada it is possible to be honest with your doctor's and receive their very honest opinion on it... Which I know would in fact shock many of the nay sayers on here...

If anyone wants some more info on my experiences, feel free to pm me. This has been an issue of interest with me for over five years now.

Edited to add...

There is another post about this very subject somewhere on HF. I'll try to find it to link it.

And here's the link....

http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=368750&f=62

 

Gosh I want to keep posting in here... lol So much to add.

But here is a link to the only study about marijuana use and pregnancy.

http://www.medicalcannabis.com/pregnancy.htm



And dollyfizz - I feel really sorry for your friend. It could be so many different things that has caused her child to not fit into the cookie cutter "norm". I mean, did she immunize? Did she smoke cigarettes? Is there a family history? Please show her the study I linked so she can stop beating herself up!! Mamas have enough to go through without added burdens of dealing with "special needs" kiddos. It sounds like she needs some strong friends to be there for her. If she were that honest with you about her drug intake, I hope you help her. Dealing with a lifetime of guilt is not conducive to improving yourself as a mom or helping your child with what they truly need.

 

The point is there's never been enough research into it to show something one way or the other, but the point is being a drug it should be assumed to be bad. Even as an adult, when you smoke weed, it's not good for your health. It can be beneficial to certain health problems, but if you're an already perfectly fine adult anyone who thinks smoking weed is beneficial to your health needs to put down the damn bowl.

 

There are indeed some! I never said they were correct, I just said they were there. I'm not in denial that there are many strong studies providing information to suggest that marijuana isn't harmful in the womb, I'm just saying there are studies to suggest the adverse too.

The following link was written in regard to smoking whilst pregnant, but I can quote the parts about marijuana use;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/may/25/medicineandhealth.smoking

I can't link further on the article since it requires payment to view the whole study;

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/repri...earchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT.pdf

The following link provides details of studies which have findings to indicate that prenatal marijuana use effects child behavior problems. This doesn't mean it's correct or legitimate (even those that documented the study don't know what to think)- It just means that somebody has this opinion enough to write about it.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...esult&ct=result&resnum=7#v=onepage&q=&f=false

The following link and quote are only references, but they certainly read their information somewhere;

http://www.medic8.com/healthguide/articles/marijuana.html

If anybody actually wanted to invest some considerable time in reasearch of the effects of marijuana on a foetus, they may find a lot of studies in medical journals and in medical libraries. It doesn't mean that everything a doctor or scientist discovers is fact, it just means it's information that somebody believed and wrote.

Everything I've quoted may well be an absolute load of crap. It actually most probably is, but I just quoted it- It isn't my work.

 

No, she didn't smoke cigarettes and there is no family history. She did marijuana regularly until she found out she was pregnant (which was late on, until she was in the second trimester) and as you say, it could be so many things. It may even be nothing- Perhaps that's just how he is regardless of any factors. My point is, parents always hit themselves and wonder what they did wrong for their child. They always regret things, they feel like they could have done better and they generally wish they'd deterred from anything that had even the teeniest chance of upsetting something that could have been better than it was.

I have a sister who isn't too well. My mother always wonders what she should have done differently, and if she ever did anything wrong. Of course, she didn't. But it's in her natural motherly instinct to feel that way.

 

I personally think it isn't a bad idea... There was an article in High Times about a 20 year study that was done in Africa. They had mothers smoke while pregnant and researched the effects it had on the children. From that study, with those kids, the children made really good grades throughout school. The reason? Cause they slowed down and took the time to go over their answers and not to rush through homework/tests. This is the only one I've read about... But, to be honest, I think it's a personal choice, and if it's pot or cigarettes, I would say pot would be the better choice (in my opinion).

 

I'd have to see more of that study, not to diss Africa, but any study in Africa that has to do with education over a 20 year period has to take into account A LOT of outside factors.

 

I think the OP should ask why she would be smoking?

Is momma's recreation worth the (undetermined) risk from exposing the fetus to those chemicals?

If its non-recreational use, what does the OP's health care provider think about the idea?

 

Having never been pregnant myself and not interested in being so at the time, I'm going to keep my nose out of the right vs wrong aspect. I've heard, yet unsure, that doctors can perform random drug test on expecting mother's who visit their office. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to deal with the CPS from day one.

 

themadcap, I would agree. That was the only study I had ever seen on the subject, and the rest was just personal opinion. You are right - I wonder if they took into account the advances in the education in Africa that was occurring. Good point.

 

i'm all for it. the more moms that smoke during pregnancy, the better. i'm all for forced MJ smoking...like vaccinations. its all good for the kids

 

I said it once, I'll say it again; Some women don't vaccinate because they're afraid it will hurt their children but they won't kick the drug habit. Go figure.

 

I'm pregnant and I would never even consider smoking pot now, even though before I got pregnant I did smoke quite a bit. Just not worth the risk in my opinion. It's not just about me anymore, I have my baby's well-being to think about and I'm not going to risk it. It's not the time to be selfish anymore.

 

http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_myth7.shtml

food for thought?

 

Just because it is 'the SAFEST DRUG', doesn't mean its SAFE. DOH

 

Well, i just take smoking weed as any other form of smoking when it comes to pregnancy.
Personally I wouldn't do it,
But thats only because i wouldn't want anything to harm the babe.
Plant smoke, cig smoke, any kinda smoke is technically harmful for you're body, so i wouldn't necessarily take the chance.

 

You're not actually saying that to me, right? Your comment was just pretty general, yeah? I hope so.

 

I am saying it to you. Terrible logic.