Cannabis and pregnancy...Your opinions

The problem with asking your doctor is, he may be some "Just Say No" idiot and start proceding to remove your baby at birth. You have to know your doctor to ask him a question like this, AND most MDs are NOT trained in actual truth about recreational drugs. They are given the same propaganda as the rest of us. Some of them choose to beleive it, others do their own research.

I never smoked when I was pregnant, or when I was breastfeeding my babies. But, I know womyn who did, and some had medical reasons to do so. Research shows that aside from a bit of transient jitteriness,(which was gone in a week ot two) the babies of moms who smoked weed in pregnancy were no different intelectually, physically or mentally. One stude in Jamacia found babies born to ganja smoking mamas were heavier and smarter. I'd say, don't do it unless it has a real benefit to you. And DON'T tell your OB, unless you know him or her really well.

Midwives tend to have better info on weed than most MDs do.

 

Important Tip:

Never lie to your doctor.

 

Bad Bad Bad idea. Your child should be the MOST important thing and while Im an avid pot supporter Im not in favor of doing anything that has a risk to an unborn baby. The baby has not yet the voice to say "Hey, quit that shit...Its making me feel bad! "




Is it safe to smoke cannabis during pregnancy?
No. Like tobacco smoke, cannabis smoke is highly likely to be harmful to fetal development and should be avoided by pregnant women and those who might become pregnant in the near future.

"Marijuana has no reliable impact on birth size, length of gestation, neurological development, or the occurrence of physical abnormalities. The administration of hundreds of tests to older children has revealed only minor differences between the offspring of marijuana users and nonusers, and some are positive rather than negative. (...) While it is sensible to advise women to abstain from all drugs during pregnancy, the weight of evidence suggests that marijuana does not directly harm the human foetus." (1)

 

That exerpt says it, Yellowbelly. There are no physical abnormalities that can be attributed to the use of THC in pregnancy. While inhalation of smoke will more than likely cause problems, the THC doesn't seem to be a concern.

 

Not about important things, just about things that perhaps you know more about than he does. I wouldn't and never did use weed while I was pregnant, but if I had I don't think I would have said anything to most doctors. Doctors tend to, although many of them have pharmaceutical addictions themselves, be very conservative about recreational useage or even medical usage of weed in their patients. I work in health care, and know a lot of doctors, and they live the "Do as I say, not as I do" lifestyles. Many of them are popping Vicodins, xanax or Adderals like candy, and drink like fish, and sneak cigarettes in the stairwells of the hopital, but automatically put a pateint on a "watch list" if they even suspect the patient is a "drug abuser."

I know of good mamas who had DCFS show up at the birth, just because someone was "honest" about PRE pregnancy weed usage.

A good doctor can be your freind, a crappy one can be your worst enemy.

 

Firstly i'm not an "experienced mother" but I have witnessed somebody else who "smokes a lot" (i.e. has a habit/addiction - whatever you want to call it) choose not to give up during pregnancy. The result? Her son born more than 2 months premature, fighting for his life, who now will have to live with the associated problems for the rest of his life.
I'm not saying this was a direct consequence of her smoking pot, but as has been said repeatedly, why risk it?

 

I'll say it you COWARD (not really! ). SMOKING POT CAN SCREW UP YOUR BABY!!!! IF THAT HAPPENS IT YOUR FAULT!

 

Food for thought:

A woman I know thinks booze is ok for pregnancy since she drank all through her pregnancy and her kid is ok

So just because somebody's baby is born ok, it might just mean that they are lucky....

 

there has been one, really good, long-term study (the babies are now teenagers, if I'm not mistaken, and the researchers are still keeping tabs on their development) done on the effects of smoking pot during pregnancy. I'll search the web and see if I can find it. They took 200 or more Jamaican women who were smoking at least five joints every day of their pregnancy (way more than I can imagine any of you are smoking, if you smoke at all) and their babies showed no differences than the control group, other than they didn't cry as much or as loudly as the ones whose mothers did not smoke pot.


The dangers of alcohol during pregnancy have been extensively studied and are very well-documented. There has been no conclusive evidence that smoking dope hurts a developing fetus. But it's up to you to make your own decisions. The what-ifs are enough to keep most women far far away from any sort of smoke, first or second hand, during pregnancy. That's not to mention smell aversion that most of us have when we are pregnant. Trust your body to tell you if something is harmful! If you can't stand to be near someone even an hour after they have smoked, because of the way it smells, that is your body's way of telling you to stay away from it.

 

Never lie to your doctor.

Even if they have conservative views. They need to know the complete truth in order to have the full knowledge to help their patients. Whatever reservations you have about telling your doctor the truth - they've dealt with far worser things before you came in for your appointment.

 

Depending on your doctor's prejudices. Every doctor has them, they are human beings, and pretty egotistical ones at that. I work with doctors. You shouldn't lie about certain things, (doc needs to know you are pregnant, or if you have had abortions, or if you have diagnoses, or take certain meds) but many many doctors are very conservative, and a mom who is being very honest and says "Oh, I smoked a little weed before I got pregnant." Could well have to deal with CPS agents IN the delivery room, ready to take the baby as soon as her urine tests (taken without her permission) come in. I've SEEN it happen.

It depends on the doctor. There are things they NEED to know, and others they don't. My dh practice a combined method of Natural Family Planning and withdrawal. Works OK, my doctor (although he's a great dude) doesn't beleive in either (he knows about neither, either) so I tell him "we use condoms most of the time. Yeah. We have a 10 year old box in the waterbed cabinet. But, it keeps him (the doctor) happy and he isn't trying to talk me into an IUD or a Tubal Ligation every time I go in there. Just an example. I KNOW how NFP and withdrawal works for us, he doesn't and sees people who use these methods without much practice and end up with a lot of unwanted pregnancies, so he has a point, but he doesnt live in my house.

 

You've seen CPS agents take babies away from mothers in the delivery room after unwaranted urine tests results and never called the authorities??

From my understanding in your previous posts, you've had a couple unplanned pregnancies.

I don't see the need to lie to your doctor, even if he doesn't share your views. You can't withold things from your doctor and expect him to give you the advice you want.

As a general rule, one should never withold anything from your personal doctor.

 

Æ

 

nicoteine is an addictive substance, much more similar to cocaine than THC. Cannabis has never been proven to be chemically addictive. It can be psychologically addictive for some people, but infants are not reaping any social benefits from their mothers' use, so wouldn't fall into that very small category of people who get addicted to pot.

 

The "authorities" are who give the tests and take the babies. Who would there be to call? For how many years have you spent working with new moms?

Yeah, and..........? I know womyn on the pill, the IUD and every other form of BC to have unplanned pregnancies. I don't see your point.

Phox, I agree that pregnant mamas need to play it safe and not use weed. But your assumptions about THC and the fetus are not rooted in any research I have seen (and I work in the field.) Also, THC is not related to nicotine, and is not classically physically "addictive."

 

yeah, I'm most definitely NOT saying it's okay to smoke pot during pregnancy, but any claims of it's possible causing physical harm are unfounded in the current research. What I am saying is that if you have a very strong smell aversion to smoke (even secondhand smoke or the smell of it on someone's clothes), and most women *do* during pregnancy, that is your body's way of telling you to stay away from it.

 

wouldn't smoking ANYTHING decrease the amount of oxygen getting to the fetus? Cigarettes, pot.. anything you inhale means you are inhaling less oxygen, right? My doctor is very concerned about the fetus' oxygen levels, as I am asthmatic.... so that was the first thing that popped into my head.

I've been offered pot several times during my pregnancy (mostly since moving home to Canada), but have always turned it down. Would rather be safe than sorry, I guess.

 

That's the only reason I could ever see marijuana as being harmful during pregnancy...the oxygen loss. From late in the first trimester, baby is teaching itself to breathe. It needs all the oxygen it can get, so doing anything to harm the oxygen levels at all is potentially dangerous.

But I think if you just ingested the THC, it probably wouldn't be harmful. It's not a physically addictive drug. And none of the research I've read supports that it's the THC that harms anyone. So if you just *have* to have pot, it's probably best to eat it.

And Aristartle, in reference to your comment about MaggieSugar's unplanned pregnancies, the majority of people in the world are results of unplanned pregnancies. So I don't know why you would bring something like that up. It has no bearing on this issue.

 

Like any chemical or medicine, I'm sure pot should be avoided during pregnancy. As so many others have said: why risk it? However, as a MEDICINE, it does have some hard-to-argue benefits - mainly in expecting mothers who are experiencing extended and exaggerated "morning sickness". Some PG women will experience bad nausea throughout, causing (among other things) massive appetite loss and nutritional deficiencies. When researching papers for school last year, I remember finding several ACTUAL MEDICAL REPORTS written by doctors, who found that moderate cannabis use can stimulate appetite and decrease nausea enough to feed baby. It was believed that the side effects of this medication were much less harmful than other anti-nausea meds out there...

 

That's what I'm talking about! I think THC should be avoided, like any other drug, because it's just a better option.

But if you have anything going on that is causing you so much pain and discomfort that you can't function and ENJOY YOUR PREGNANCY that can be treated with the medicinal use of marijuana, THC's not a bad option.