Smoking pot/cigarettes during pregnancy. Is it the mothers right to smoke or the babies right to be healthy?

Question

I know a few people who smoke both pot and cigarettes during pregnancy. I mean smoke cigarettes as much as they did before being pregnant and smoke pot just as much, which is a few through out the day..everyday! Not just the occasional bit for morning sickness.

Do you think it's the mothers choice? Or do you believe once you are pregnant you have to give up a lot of things - and smoking anything should be one of them.

Do you believe smoking weed harms babies. I know that these people have never had problems with their children, they are healthy. But I still wouldn't want to risk it and wouldn't want a child growing up around that.

Do you think smoking pot during pregnancy could lead to your child doing the same thing. Just as alcohol abuse is generally genetic??

Opinions and thoughts please.

Answer 1

It is not the mother's right...hey, even if she's not happy about being pregnant...give the kid a clean start and let someone else raise it after it is out of her nasty.....care.

Answer 2

I wouldn't try smoking pot during pregnancy. I have never heard of it preventing nausea during pregnancy, and I don't think any evidence that could remotely back this claim up is in existence.

I also don't know if smoking pot during pregnancy can lead babies to smoke pot themselves. I know this is a learned behaviour, like alcoholism, unless the child has strong willpower gained through the media (anti-drinking PSA's for example,) so I think the child would have to watch the parents or be exposed to the smoke in order to pick it up.

I wouldn't try smoking pot. Most mothers know they have to give up certain rights in order to produce healthy babies and be good parents.

Answer 3

There has been no proof of harmful effects. Those who believe that is does doesn't realize that what they hear is a government answer that had been shoved down their throat for over eighty years. Truth is weed is a naturally grown plant that provides healing powers (just ask any cancer patient or people with chronic pains). Tobacco is grown, but chemicals are added later. Other drugs illegal (cocaine, LSD, heroin,etc.) and legal (including prenatal and folic acid which is used in pregnancy) contain any number of chemicals that could cause birth defects. There are mothers that took all steps necessary in their pregnancy that had babies born with defects and their are reckless mothers who smoke, drink and/or do drugs that have perfectly healthy kids. Bottom line is no matter what happens, her baby will come out the way the Lord intended and if there is a defect, it is no way to pinpoint what causes it.

Answer 4

Tobacco use in pregnancy leads to low birth weight, risk of premature birth, higher risk of developing asthma and is linked to SIDS. Weed, which also crosses the placenta is at least 4 times as toxic as tobacco. It's also a psychoactive (brainchanging) substance, so imagine what it's doing to a brain that's trying to develop.

You're also dead right about genetic predisposition to substance use in adults whose mother used substances whilst pregnant.

So, we know that it's not in the baby's interests to do that.

If you've made the decision to carry the baby to term and give birth to it, doing stuff that harms it is just plain bad parenting. It's obviously the mother's choice - she's the only one who knows the extent of what she's passing across the placental layer - but it's the same kind of choice as deciding to neglect or abuse their child once it's born OR deciding to get help if changing behaviours that hurt the child is really hard.

Kids used to be less protected by law from stuff that was done to them after birth. I would not be surprised if we saw adults in the future suing parents for doing stuff like using substances during pregnancy.

I'm a bit hard line about this because I believe that if you've decided to have kids then while they're completely dependant on you, you come second until they can fend for themselves a bit more.

Answer 5

I believe you should give them up. Anyone who doesn't is just selfish.

I doubt smoking weed HELPS the baby, which is what I would be worried about if I were expecting. I don't think smoking pot during pregnancy would lead to the child doing it, that's just silly.

Answer 6

I don't agree with it. However, my mother smoked while she was pregnant with me....wait that it is a terrible example. Its a bad idea. We can't stop the people that do it, but we can keep the health of our own children in mind. I stopped doing everything that could be harmful to me while I was pregnant. That includes...well, just about everything. I would be willing to sacrifice my life for my children, so putting down a pack of smokes shouldn't be a big deal to someone that has sole responsibility for someone else's life.

Answer 7

today's pills, will be tomorrow's poison

back in the day.... EVERYONE smoked during pregnancy, etc...

50 years from now they may decide that drinking soda during pregnancy is killing the baby. There's very little that one can eat, drink, or breathe that isn't bad for a baby. Negative emotions are bad for them. but they survive.

Answer 8

It's her responsibility to have a healthy baby. If she couldn't keep her legs closed or bother with birth control, she needs to quit drugs and smoking and fly right. She needs to grow up now. There isn't room for two babies. .

Answer 9

you cant force someone to stop smoking. poor babies though awww:( its her choice to have the baby so its her choice to smoke. I think smoking pot in general is illegal..so yes you can force moms not to smoke pot but you have to catch them first. the reason alcohol abuse is sometimes genetic has to do with some gene being more susceptible to addiction. I dont know if they have done any gene studies with marijuana..who knows. most kids will smoke pot at least once in their life anyways.

Answer 10

Knowing what we know today, any woman who smokes either during pregnancy should be brought up on charges of child abuse... case closed.