Is it safe to smoke marijuana while your pregnant?

Question

I'm just a little concerned about a friend of mine, she smokes constantly & swears that it can do no harm to her baby. I really don't agree with her but I need some other opinions.

Answer 1

Don't take my word for it, do the research, and print it off, and give it to her, not that it would do any good obviously. Sounds like you need to be more choosey about who you hang out with. If it were me, i don't care how good of friends i were with this person, she is injuring a child!!! I would turn her into athourities!! She's not only hurting an innocent baby, but ruining that childs life clear into adulthood, the affects are longterm.

babies born to women who abused marijuana during their pregnancies display altered responses to visual stimuli28, increased tremulousness, and a high-pitched cry, which may indicate neurological problems in development29. During the preschool years, marijuana-exposed children have been observed to perform tasks involving sustained attention and memory more poorly than nonexposed children do30,31. In the school years, these children are more likely to exhibit deficits in problem-solving skills, memory, and the ability to remain attentive30. http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/marijuana.html

cause a baby to be born too small or to have withdrawal symptoms, birth defects, or learning or behavioral problems. use of marijuana during pregnancy may slow fetal growth and slightly decrease the length of pregnancy (possibly increasing the risk of premature delivery). Both of these factors can increase a woman’s chance of having a low-birthweight baby.After delivery, some babies who were regularly exposed to marijuana in the womb appear to undergo withdrawal-like symptoms including excessive crying and trembling.children who are exposed to marijuana before birth are more likely to have subtle problems that affect their ability to pay attention and to solve visual problems. http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1169.asp

higher rates of spontaneous abortion, pregnancy complications, and problems with labor and delivery. Birth defects are associated with marijuana use. Fathers' use lead to higher rates of certain heart abnormalities. Mothers' use is associated with mutant lymphocytes--deranged immune cell factors--which could later lead to higher rates of childhood cancers. Pre-natal marijuana exposure effects what are called "higher cognitive functions" which don't express themselves until later. At four years old, decreases in verbal ability and memory can be found in those kid exposed to pre-natal marijuana use. At ages 5 and 6, more problems with attention span are found. Needless to say, none of this sets the kid up for a great experience in grade school. At ages 9-12, the same problems persist and compound. Pre-natally exposed to marijuana kids have lower impulse control, don't do as well on certain types of analysis and reasoning tasks, and have lower reading and language skills.
http://www.estronaut.com/a/pregnancy_with_marijuana.htm

Answer 2

First of all, you will note that most people do not provide any references for their statements. Those that do provide one of two kinds. The first is links to pages that don't provide any references for their statements. The second is links to government sites that provide the titles of references, but no links to the full text of the article. In general, you should be suspicious of any information coming from the US Government because they have had an open and admitted policy of distorting the truth about drugs since at least 1925. See, for example, the short history of the marijuana laws at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm for a truly funny tale of how it all got started.

As a general rule, you should refrain from use of any recreational drug while pregnant.

However, there is no real evidence that marijuana use is harmful to fetuses. For example, see http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/medical/can-babies.htm

This is a study done in Jamaica, where the average daily use of marijuana has been estimated to be about 28 times as high as in the US.

The major government commission reports on marijuana have studied the subject over the years and come to the same conclusion: While marijuana use is not recommended during pregnancy, there is no particular evidence to indicate that it is a major hazard to babies. You can find the full text of these reports at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer under Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy.

Your friend should probably stop, but there are definitely bigger hazards to the baby.

Just FYI, the number of people who smoke marijuana in the US has been in the tens of millions for several decades now. While no clear numbers exist, it has to be assumed that there have been a considerable number of pregnant women who smoked. If any of the dire statements made by the others in this question were true we would have a clear national epidemic of birth defects from marijuana by now. There is such a clear pattern from alcohol and tobacco. There is no such pattern from marijuana.

Answer 3

No that is not okay. It can harm the baby. It's harmful to drink while pregnant, to smoke while pregnant, let alone do drugs while being pregnant. And if your friend is smoking marijuana while being pregnant in the first place than she really doesn't know it won't do the baby any harm. I think maybe she's just saying that, hoping that, trying to convince herself and others of that. It's easier for her to say it won't do the unborn child harm then actually trying to quit doing it all together.

Answer 4

Of course it is not okay to smoke marijuana during pregnancy, it will will definitely harm the baby, and could end in a miscarriage, alot of people in my area do alot of drugs and drink alot even the people that I work with. One girl smokes weed everyday and has had 5 miscarriages in the last year, she really wants to have a baby and doesn't understand why you cant drink or do drugs, alot of people tell her to cut down or stop completely because that is what is harming her babies but her answer is her mom did it when she was pregnant with her so it makes it alright. This girl is going no where fast in life!!! Tell your friend if she wants her baby to be healthy she needs to stop, it is harming her baby!! Good Luck!!

Answer 5

There are alot of different opinions on this subject, but i do have some experience with this. 1st off smoke is never good 4 mom or baby just like cigs, could lead to low birth weight etc. However i have a friend who smoked pot not cigs threw 2 pregnancies, both babes r fine big 9 lb boys, and r both very smart. also i didn't know i was pregnant until i was about 4 months, and i smoked pot everyday, my daughter has the highest G.P.A. in her class and has never had any serious health condition.

Answer 6

Smoke of any kind is not good for the mom or the baby or the people around her. I do know that it helps with the morning sickness but that doesn't make it right.

Answer 7

NO!! it is very unsafe when you are pregnant anything that you eat drink smoke or anything that you consume, your baby also consumes... so her baby could have birth defects as in heart defect lung and breathing problems and also the baby can have physical defects like his eyes could be really far apart he could be born with an arm in a wrong place... it just messes up the process of the baby developing... her baby could come out and be addicted to it because it has been in its system

Answer 8

It is very unsafe and can cause all sorts of problems. You can look it up on the Internet for more info. I can safely say she is ignorant in the decisions she makes. The child is her first priority and not her. Tell her that she needs to Quit ASAP

Answer 9

I answered your questions about colds, but as for your friend go to the healthdepartment tell them you are doing a presentation an how drugs affect unborn babies and they will give you some pamphlets with pictures that hopefully will scare your friend sober. Your doc may be able to provide you with these also.

Answer 10

This is awful. She seems a little bit to irresponsible to be having a child. Who would do that to an unborn child and not think it will have any consequences. You need to tell her to stop immediately. If she doesnt take your advice maybe being her friend you should consult someone else who can and will help her.