Is cannabis safe during pregnancy???

[austinmandi]

*

[Pariah]

I have read on another forum where some women were okay with using it during labor. I'm not sure how you'd go about finding a midwife who's okay with this...I would be afraid to ask, personally. I do know that the first trimester is when you would especially want to avoid anything potentially toxic because that's when all the important parts of the baby are forming, so I'm not sure how safe it is to use then. I've done some reading on the topic and apparently there are studies showing women in Jamaica smoking through their pregnancies with no problems, but I personally wouldn't take that risk. I do recall reading posts on another forum from a woman who used tiny amounts (like 1-2 hits) to help her appetite when she was dealing with extremely severe morning sickness, and didn't want to take medication for it, for fear of the effects of the meds on her baby.

[babydoll]

in a word...no

I don't smoke it, but I have read a few studies that concluded that it could cause mental retardation, developmental delays, and facial cranial problems. It was several years ago that I read this but I am sure that is what it said. I am sorry that you are dealing with bipolar disorder and I hope that you can find some relief during your pregnancy.

Babydoll

I just did a quick google search. It is also thought to cause ADHD, attention problems, memory problems, and may be linked to early miscarriage and low birth weight babies.

[shishkeberry]

There was an article in Mothering about using marijuana for morning sickness.
http://www.mothering.com/articles/pr...marijuana.html
http://www.mothering.com/articles/pr...ana-side4.html

I used it during my pregnancy.

[Hollin]

I definitely would not use it during pregnancy, but I might consider it during labor if I were doing unassissted childbirth. If you can find a midwife you really trust I would tell her the situation and see what she suggests to help you with the bipolar during pregnancy that won't harm your baby.

[Chanley]

There is a very long thread here about this topic. It tends to get heated. I want to remind everyone to keep thier head about them. If you can do a search here and read the wealth of information about this, it would be very helpful to you.

[Chanley]

Babydoll,

I would love to see this research you are quoting because I cannot for the life of me find any unbiased research on this topic. All I have found in the anti- group is stuff spouted by the same folks funding the War on Drugs. Needless to say, there is so much misinformation about this it makes my head spin.

I have always said, marijuana is very powerful plant medicine. Smoking is NEVER a good idea during pregnancy (or ever in my opinion). If you need to self medicate with marijuana, you may want to look into cooking with it or a vaporizor. Smoking it is just pouring nasty chemicals into your bloodstream from the actual smoke (and the butane if you are using a lighter).

[babydoll]

here

Help yourself.


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...+and+pregnancy

[austinmandi]

*

[Ruthla]

When talking about medication during pregnancy and nursing, you need to weigh ALL the options- including the dangers of not treating your condition at all. In many cases, the potential side effects of the drug are safer than the risks to the baby if Mom's condition goes untreated. For example, when I'm depressed I often "forget" to eat- this lack of nutrition can be far more harmful than medication.

IMO, cannabis is probably a lot safer than many of the pharmaceutical drugs that are used to treat Bipolar Disorder. However, there are certain "legal risks" of using cannnabis, and you're more vulnerable to the law once you have kids. There IS a risk of being arrested and separated from the baby, and also a risk of children being taken into foster care simply because of parents' drug use. I'm not sure how likely that is to happen, but it IS a risk.

In the "Finding your Tribe" area, there is a tribe of MJ using Mamas and Papas. You could probably get a lot of info and support over there.

[Chanley]

Ok thanks for a google search.

Like I said, I have yet to find any unbiased information or research on this topic.

[darkpear]

I think it's safe, personally. The Jamaican study is pretty compelling, since it was much better controlled than similar research that's been done in the US. It's also worth noting that cannabis is extremely non-toxic in general.

These threads do tend to turn ugly, unfortunately :

[thismama]

I also believe it's safe and used it during my pregnancy, and also while nursing. I spoke to my midwife about it and she said the main concern during pregnancy was inhalation of smoke. This possibility was not a major concern to me because I don't smoke marijuana like one would cigarettes.

After my daughter was born I called Motherrisk and they spoke about risks regarding delayed development, loss of appetite, and general lethargy. My daughter has been an early developer in every area, eats/ate heartily, and I wish for more lethargy! So no worries here.

[austinmandi]

*

[Snowdrift]

If you talk your midwife about using it during labor, keep in mind that they have certain legal liabilities. Depending on what state you are in midwiery may be more of less embattled and the midwife could rightly be worried about randowm prosecutors jumping in and investigating in all kinds of circumstances. I'm all for cannabis use, within prudent limits, but in my state, in the current legal environment, I wouldn't ask my midwife to expose herself to that kind of liability.

[zonapellucida]

Don't think I would have survived a couple of my pregnancies without it. My third child landed me in the hospital. After five days I checked myself out, bought a bag and finished the pg without getting sick. I see nothing wrong wiht the children I birthed having smoked during pg. So, my vote is it doesn't cause any problems and my midwife doesn't have a problem with it. If I had it prescribed I'd be smoking right now...... This is JMO and I stick to it.

[shishkeberry]

Shishkeberry - any effects on the baby? anything else I need to know???

Not that I know of. He's a healthy 15 month old now, if a little on the small side. But that could have been caused by my pre-eclampsia and low milk supply. He was induced at 37 weeks because of the pre-e and we had so many problems with nursing in the beginning coupled with unhelpful LC's and the inability to pump that I wasn't able to make enough milk for him after 4 months or so. But he's catching up now and he's the smartest baby you've ever seen Ok, maybe I'm a little biased

[the_queen]

I was a heavy pot-smoker before I got pregnant with my now 4 yr old daughter. When I found out I was pregnant, at 5 weeks, I stopped. I couldn't handle the m/s, but in retrospect I realise that I was also "withdrawing" from the pot I'd smoked every day for the past 4 years. So the nausea seemed 10 times as bad. So when I was 9 weeks pregnant, I started smoking again.

Long story short, my daughter was born with a bilateril cleft lip.

No matter what my drug counsellor says, no matter what my husband says, no matter what anybody says, I blame myself. I will blame myself forever.

[Still_Snarky]

Originally Posted by the_queen

No matter what my drug counsellor says, no matter what my husband says, no matter what anybody says, I blame myself. I will blame myself forever.

[HaveWool~Will Felt]

Originally Posted by babydoll

cause mental retardation, developmental delays, and facial cranial problems.
It is also thought to cause ADHD, attention problems, memory problems, and may be linked to early miscarriage and low birth weight babies.

I work with the long term effect of cannabis use on children.
I totally agree with the above poster...

Moms that have or do smoke cannabis through their prenancies will without a doubt endure one or many of the above issues. I see it everyday.

Again....this is my experience. I am not judging. I am not pointing figures. This is what I have learned and observed through 12 years of working with drug effected children.