Marijuana and Pregnancy
If you use marijuana during pregnancy, you may be putting your health and your fetus’s health at risk.
About one in 25 women in the U.S. reports using marijuana while pregnant.
The chemicals in any form of marijuana may be bad for your baby – this includes edible marijuana products (such as cookies, brownies, or candies).
If you’re using marijuana and are pregnant or are planning to become pregnant, talk to your doctor.
Marijuana use during pregnancy can be harmful to your baby’s health. The chemicals in marijuana (in particular, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC) pass through your system to your baby and can negatively affect your baby’s development.
Although more research is needed to better understand how marijuana may affect you and your baby during pregnancy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends against using marijuana during your pregnancy.
Possible Effects on Your Fetus
- Disruption of brain development before birth
- Smaller size at birth
- Higher risk of stillbirth
- Higher chance of being born too early, especially when a woman uses both marijuana and cigarettes during pregnancy
- Harm from secondhand marijuana smoke
- Behavioral problems in childhood and trouble paying attention in school
Possible Effects on You
- Permanent lung injury from smoking marijuana
- Dizziness, putting you at risk of falls
- Impaired judgment, putting you at risk of injury
- Lower levels of oxygen in the body, which can lead to breathing problems
Marijuana and breastfeeding
- Chemicals from marijuana can be passed to your baby through breast milk. THC is stored in fat and is slowly released over time, meaning an infant could be exposed for a longer period of time.
- However, data on the effects of marijuana exposure to the infant through breastfeeding are limited and conflicting.
- To limit potential risk to the infant, breastfeeding mothers should reduce or avoid marijuana use.
Did You Know?
- Medical marijuana is not safer than recreational marijuana. Recreational and medical marijuana may be legal in some states, but both are illegal under federal law.
- There’s no evidence that marijuana helps morning sickness (ask your obstetrician–gynecologist [ob-gyn] about safer treatments).
- You also should avoid marijuana before pregnancy and while breastfeeding.
Marijuana and pregnancy don’t mix. If you’re pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant, don’t use marijuana.
If you need help quitting marijuana, talk with your ob-gyn or other health care professional.
Research is limited on the harms of marijuana use for a pregnant woman and her fetus. Because all of the possible harms are not fully known, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends that women who are pregnant, planning to get pregnant, or breastfeeding not use marijuana. ACOG believes women who have a marijuana use problem should receive medical care and counseling services to help them quit.
Smoking During Pregnancy: https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/
tobaccousepregnancy/index.htm
Treating for Two: https://www.cdc.gov/pregnancy/meds/
Copyright May 2018 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Additional information from CDC What You Need to Know About Marijuana Use and Pregnancy 2017
