Marijuana harms babies in first trimester of pregnancy, study finds

[jgo]

Source: CNN

If you are pregnant and use any form of cannabis product, consider stopping.

That’s the takeaway from a new study that found a significant health impact of marijuana use on fetal development as early as the beginning of pregnancy.

“That’s why these findings are especially important — people can often be well into the first trimester and don’t even know they are pregnant,” said lead author Beth Bailey, professor of psychology and director of population health research at the College of Medicine at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant.

The safest recourse? “My advice to women is to avoid using marijuana at all during pregnancy and if possible stop using prior to becoming pregnant,” Bailey said.


Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/16/health/marijuana-harm-early-pregnancy-wellness/index.html

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

1. I would have thought this would have become apparent in the 60's or 70's.

[Warpy]

3. It smells like the "crack baby' hysteria

While they might have noticed different rates of system development, I can't say that I noticed much difference in the children of friends who toked up and friends who didn't except the kids of friends who toked up had a slightly more relaxed and less regimented childhood I have to say most of them turned out just fine, and cannabis use or the lack of it was no predictor of later success in life.

Cannabis has been used safely by various cultures for thousands of years. Had there been any noticeable difference in children of cannabis eaters (smoking came much later), the practice would have been either stopped or codified for males, only. It wasn't.

[forgotmylogin]

23. Smoking ANYTHING during pregnancy is not conducive to fetal health.

Not sure about edibles, but any expectant mother is sharing a bloodstream. I've heard some doctors say "no alcohol during pregnancy" but there are some who extol extreme moderation and are like "if mom needs a sip of wine...just don't overdo it." As with all things, it's up to the mother and their doctor what is best for them and their body.

[Warpy]

27. Father's Alcohol Consumption Before Conception Linked To Brain And Facial Defects In Offsprin

https://today.tamu.edu/2023/04/12/fathers-alcohol-consumption-before-conception-linked-to-brain-and-facial-defects-in-offspring/

Check it out. Data from animal models was conclusive decades ago about paternal contribution to the development of FAS.

So guys, if you want to breed, it's abstinence for you, also. Not so attractive now, is it guys?

If asceticism and abstinence are your styles, go for it. You just don't get to make the rules for anyone else.

And that was a tough lesson to learn when I was a nurse. We could educate and suggest and give support. We couldn't dictate. Some took the education and ran with it. Most ignored it. That's just how things are.

[crickets]

5. The tiny variations in weight and skull size comparisons

would seem to fall within normal ranges. Don't babies just vary that much anyway, for non-nefarious reasons?
Not that I would know, I guess, but it seems to me that born of "Silent Generation" parents who both smoked and drank (though not during pregnancy) born at five pounds ten ounces (no birth skull size available) I comfortably got good grades and had good health, for the most part, until today.

Follow a control group and those with skulls a quarter inch smaller for ten or twenty years and get back to us, scientists.

[elleng]

7. I agree, but I'm just a retired lawyer.

[Warpy]

17. The drugs that are statistically known to cause real damage

are nicotine and alcohol, and poverty is the most damaging of all. You'd think these guys would study that as a factor more than they do.

That would mean they might have to do something about it and that might cost something.

[PerceptionManagement]

21. cannabis co-evolved with humans, since before humans existed. its not a new '60's' thing

https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2020/05/21/how-cannabis-coevolved-with-humans-and-could-save-us-covid19-economy/

[keopeli]

2. Scientists were forbidden to research the side-effects of marijuana by the feds for decades.

Marijuana is still illegal federally and in many states.

I think a better message would be that pregnant women and women practicing sex without contraceptives should not smoke pot. If you do get pregnant, you lose all rights to your own body and health. Thus, women who choose not to use a prophylactic during intercourse have effectively lost their right to consume THC safely. Plus, political conservatives are intent on criminalizing the use of contraceptives. Imagine the threat that poses to half of our population! A life-or-death risk imposed by state laws.

Personally, I am gob smacked and horrified by the removal of human rights from women. Though I am a man, I hurt deeply for all women and, in solidarity, I recognize that the loss of rights to anyone is a predictor of the loss of my own rights.

I can see the message of the MAGA GQP now: "Marijuana kills potential babies. It should be illegal."

We must prevail in our response and defend our liberties. Meanwhile, take care of yourselves. Remember, we are our own source of hope! Share it in abundance!

[crickets]

4. Wow.

"women practicing sex without contraceptives"

Got a condom? Great! Use it. Then mind your business instead of judging. If all men did this, women would get less slut shaming about how irresponsible they are, when actually it takes two to make a baby. Keep in mind that women (and married couples) who do use birth control still get pregnant.

It's totally reasonable for women to be aware that smoking, toking, and drinking are things to curtail or quit entirely before planning to have a child or while pregnant. Anything beyond that is telling women that men can party, but women can't because they might be pregnant at any time and "you never know..." etc. I'd love to see the studies about how men's alcohol or pot intake affects fetal health.

*chirping sounds*

"If you do get pregnant, you lose all rights to your own body and health."

Oh, hell no. No I do not. That is the reasoning being used for all the abortion crap we are going through now.

Women are people, not perpetual baby machines.

It sounds like you might be a little conflicted on the subject, because some of your post is supportive and some of it is not. Reread your post - you have two different messages going here.

As for the science, I'm all for more of it. The more we know, the better.

[RegulatedCapitalistD]

8. It's still illegal Federally in ALL States...

And will remain so until removed from Schedule 1 classification, which I think Biden will do before 2024 election.

[quaint]

10. U.S. scientists couldn't study. There are scientists in other countries. Really.

In my empirically based opinion, pot for pain, even when pregnant, is better than aspirin.

[ShepKat]

14. so much nausea from both of mine

it was the only way I could hold food down. Both kids were of significant size. my husband is a statistician. He'd scoff at the sample size !

[Farmer-Rick]

9. Very small sample

It might be user bias since the women who smoked and gave birth were younger. If the study can be replicated a couple of times, I will believe it. But Such minor differences are probably not going to show up if someone tried to recreate this study.

They are talking about at most a 5 oz difference and less than a half inch in head size, which can change depending on vaginal, C- section or long labor births.

Cigarette smoking can do much more damage and is more thoroughly supported with more thorough studies. I wonder if the researchers accounted for smoking or caffeine drinks?

Not a definitive study.

[intheflow]

11. I smoked all through my pregnancy.

Have a very smart, compassionate athlete for a son. At 40, he’s an educator, parent, proud Dem. And although the US was forbidden to study pot, the rest of the Western world hasn’t had such restraints put on them. While an argument could be made about more potent strains nowadays, I have to say that was a small sample and this feels like confirmation bias disguised as science.

[Dorn]

12. Pot is not your friend

Even if you are addicted

[Orrex]

22. I had a friend with a really severe pot addiction in college

It got so bad that he could eat 8 or 9 tacos in one sitting.

[ShepKat]

13. a whole 109 women, huh ?

"....used data from medical records of 109 pregnant people who delivered at an obstetrics clinic at Central Michigan’s College of Medicine...."

that's not a sample.

[Unwind Your Mind]

15. Ok, don't most pregnant people refrain from any kind of drug anyway?

I guess the message is you could be pregnant anytime and you should always protect your sacred womb (that belongs to us) because your only valid function is to produce future worker drones, gross.


To CNN, we don’t use the word marijuana anymore. It’s literally a made up word designed to scare the white people a hundred years ago. The proper term is Cannabis, please make note of it.

[Martin68]

16. The results do not appear to be significant considering the size of the sample and the variations

reported. As others have pointed out above, women have been having babies after smoking pot during pregnancy for 50 years. That means most of those babies are already mature adults. That's an enormous pool of subjects for a serious study.

[SLClarke]

18. Another poor study

1. Just under 300 pregnancies observed from one city area (not a good sample group for this discussion.
2. 109 patients tested for MJ use. A comment in the study says teen mothers tend to use MJ more than older mothers - teen mothers tend to have babies who are underweight, have a larger chance of anomalies anyway, why is this sample any different?
3. No mention of ages of the control group - were they of the same age as the teens who smoked?
4. I've read several other studies from Europe, which had the same blind spots.
5. A control group means a group being controlled for as many variables as possible. This study did not control for ages of those pregnant - a major omission.

[maliaSmith]

19. ganja horror story

This is total bull crap. I used pot to take away morning sickness during both of my pregnancies. My kids were healthy, a good weight and are very smart. Pot is a medicinal herb and nothing more. My doctor also told me I could have a glass of wine if I wanted it, but as I don't drink, I never indulged.

[flying_wahini]

20. Any alcohol intake is MUCH more dangerous in the first trimester than weed.

I didn’t do either but you could almost pick out the fetal alcohol babies in newborn nursery when I worked there.

[maxsolomon]

24. and alcohol intake during pregnancy was normal until when, 1978?

first public health bulletin on it was 1977.

in most cases, it's heavy use/alcoholism that causes FASD.

[electric_blue68]

25. That was a Really Interesting article! Knew some but this had a whole lot more information.

[Emile]

26. At first I thought this was the Onion, but I see it's CNN.