Negative Effects of Cannabis During Pregnancy

As more people use cannabis recreationally, perceptions toward the drug are shifting. According to a study, dispensaries frequently offer cannabis during pregnancy to alleviate pregnancy symptoms, particularly morning sickness.

There is a growing body of research linking cannabis during pregnancy to poor child outcomes. However, the precise consequences on the developing fetus are unknown. Researchers in the United States have now investigated how the timing of cannabis intake during pregnancy affects embryonic development.

“We show that even when marijuana use occurred only in the first trimester of pregnancy, birth weight was significant reduced, by more than 150g on average,” said Dr. Beth Bailey, professor and director of population health research at Central Michigan University and senior author of the study published in Frontiers in Pediatrics. “If that use continued into the second trimester, newborn head circumference was significantly decreased as well.”

Constant Exposure Leads Largest Deficiencies

“These findings are important as newborn size is one of the strongest predictors of later child health and development,” added Dr. Phoebe Dodge, the study’s first author, a recent graduate of the Central Michigan University College of Medicine and an incoming pediatric resident at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland.

Recent work, including the research by Dodge et al., has shown significant effects of cannabis use on newborn size. “Size deficits were largest among newborns exposed to marijuana throughout gestation,” Bailey explained. The newborns that had maintained exposure in utero were almost 200g lighter and had heads that were almost 1cm smaller than those who had not. In this study, cannabis consumption throughout pregnancy did not significantly predict baby length.

The effects the researchers noticed have also provided insight into usage habits. Their research revealed that irregular usage, such as for morning sickness in the first trimester, may have the same negative effects on fetal growth as continuous use throughout pregnancy. The same holds true for various forms of early use, such as situations in which a person takes cannabis while unaware that they are pregnant.

Recommended to Quit Before Pregnancy

The authors noted that they did not have data on the quantity or frequency of cannabis usage among research participants. Their findings were based on whether or not people used it throughout specific stages of pregnancy. As a result, the study was unable to determine whether there was a link between heavy use and more obvious effects in neonatal growth.

They concluded that more research is required to understand whether timing or dosage had the greatest effects on neonatal size.

“The best recommendation is that women should be advised to quit marijuana use prior to becoming pregnant,” Dodge said. However, quitting as soon as possible after getting pregnant is the second-best option to avoid long term adverse health and developmental outcomes. “There are some benefits of quitting among those who begin pregnancy using marijuana,” she continued.

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