Parental Advisory 14
Just how dangerous is smoking pot while pregnant?
by Rebecca Odes & Ceridwen Morris
March 14, 2007
I've quit everything in pregnancy and I'm very healthy and all seems to be going well, but I sometimes crave pot. I know women who smoked during pregnancy to stay relaxed and deal with morning sickness and everything is fine with their kids. Is it really bad for the baby? I don't want to ask my doctor because of the legal issue. Online they always say no. But as if the American Pregnancy Association is going to tell me it's okay. — Sick of Being Smokeless
Dear Smokeless,
The official recommendation is to avoid
all "street drugs", and you'll find very little variation on
that theme. After having done quite a bit of research ourselves, we've
found the pot and pregnancy question a pretty uneasy one. Compared with crack
and binge
drinking — and, for that matter, cigarette smoking — pot smoking
is less conclusively harmful. Of course, it's hard to do a controlled study.
Pot smokers are more likely to smoke cigarettes and use other drugs, and
no one who smokes pot during pregnancy feels much like opening
up about it. The result is few studies with mitigating factors. Was it the
THC, the nicotine or the accompanying prenatal yoga and meditation
that made that child so spaced-out? Some research shows
that prenatal pot exposure has been associated with behavioral and neurological
problems. Some shows no effects. One study even showed that pot-exposed
babies fared exceptionally well. We do know that pot stays
in the system a long time and that drugs pass through the placenta, so the drug
is likely getting to the baby. We just don't know exactly what it does when it
gets there.
Some feel that any negative effects of pot smoking on the fetus (and indeed, none
have been irrefutably proven) are outweighed by the positive effects of the drug
on the mother's sense of well-being. Others think it's crazy to take a risk.
While it may not be conclusively harmful, pot is illegal in most
states. Though drug testing of pregnant
women is not standard, detection of marijuana in a mother's bloodstream
before birth can lead to various legal complications.
Ultimately, this question, like all the other ones you'll be dealing with as
a mother, is up to you. With pot, it's always hard to
separate the real risks from the cultural assumptions. But if you're prone
to paranoia, consider whether indulging will give you a little relaxation, or
a little more to worry about. For further information on the topic without
the histrionics, you may want to check out The Panic
Free
Pregnancy, by laid-back L.A. M.D. Michael Broder.
Have a question? Email parentaladvisory@babble.com
©2007 Rebecca Odes & Ceridwen Morris and Nerve Media
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