In spite of studies conducted on rats showing that marijuana use during pregnancy can cause brain damage to the unborn offspring, some mums have been smoking the green stuff anyway. They claim that it is less dangerous than prescribed medicine when used to treat morning sickness.

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Last week, the American Medical Association voiced their concerns over this new trend. They called for any products which contain Marijuana – and are on-sale in the states where weed is legal – to be labelled with similar warnings to those displayed on alcohol.

Ganja advocates disagree, however. Many of them draw attention to a study which took place in Jamaica. The results seem to show that in the very early stages following their birth, the babies displayed no observable differences to other children who had not been exposed to marijuana during pregnancy:

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Despite the prevalence of marijuana use among women of childbearing age, 1-3 reports on the behavioural teratogenic effects of prenatal marijuana exposure have been conflicting and inconclusive.

Fried and Makin… found that moderate levels of marijuana use in their middle-class Ottawa sample (7.0 joints per week) were associated with poorer habituation to light, higher levels of irritability, and increased tremors and startles as assessed… between the third and sixth days of life.

Tennes et al… on the other hand, found no relationship between exposure to marijuana and the neonates’ behaviour… Similarly, a recent study of 373 lower socioeconomic status mothers and their neonates by Richardson and colleagues 6 found no relationship between moderate levels of marijuana use during pregnancy and neonate behaviour… on the second day of life.

Personally, I think these results seem largely inconclusive. While it is true that several children appeared unaffected, others were not so lucky. Furthermore, the study only focuses on the very early stages of life. There is no telling what the long-term effects might be.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, in the USA, believes that more research is required before a solid conclusion can be reached:

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Human studies have shown that some babies born to women who used marijuana during their pregnancies respond differently to visual stimuli, tremble more, and have a high-pitched cry, which could indicate problems with neurological development.

One unnamed mum justified her decision to smoke weed during her pregnancy by explaining that she couldn’t eat or sleep without it due to sickness. She said:

I was initially against the idea of it, mainly because of the stigma surrounding smoking while pregnant.

However, after three weeks of keeping almost nothing down and craving a sandwich… I smoked for the first time.

Just a couple hits. I sat back, ate half a sandwich, and it didn’t come back up! I think I napped after.

I smoked a few more times after that because I was still puking almost every 20 to 40 minutes during weeks four through 15 and had lost about 20 pounds.

When I smoked, I could eat and nap. It helped keep food down and was better than Zofran. Honestly a life saver.

And I suppose it is arguable that a lack of sleep and an insufficient diet could be just as detrimental as marijuana usage, if not more so, to the health of the baby. Particularly if the symptoms continued with no alternative means of treatment. If it turns out that this is actually a safe way to treat morning sickness, and you happen to have a pregnant guest coming round for Christmas this year, check out this weed infused Christmas dinner recipe. Don’t have a pregnant guest? Well, we all know Christmas is probably better with weed anyway.