Advertisement

Study: Regular pot use during pregnancy bad for baby

"Our findings contribute to the growing body of evidence that fetal marijuana exposure may not be as safe as people think," said Dr. Bobby Brar, a researcher and physician at UNLV.

By HealthDay News
Recent research shows that marijuana use during pregnancy has doubled in the last 15 years, and roughly 70 percent of women think there is minimal or no harm from it. Photo by Engin_Akyurt/Pixabay
Recent research shows that marijuana use during pregnancy has doubled in the last 15 years, and roughly 70 percent of women think there is minimal or no harm from it. Photo by Engin_Akyurt/Pixabay

Dec. 9 -- Smoking pot regularly during pregnancy won't do your baby any favors, researchers warn.

They studied sonograms from nearly 450 pregnant women who said they used marijuana daily. The researchers concluded that daily use of the drug is associated with delayed fetal growth, which may increase the risk of problems during pregnancy, delivery and afterbirth.

Advertisement

Those problems can include low birth weight, low resistance to infection, decreased oxygen levels, low blood sugar, and even stillbirth, according to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas researchers.

"Recent data from JAMA indicates that marijuana use in pregnancy has doubled over the last 15 years, and what's more alarming is that 70 percent of women believe there is minimal or no harm from using marijuana in pregnancy," said study lead author Dr. Bobby Brar, a resident physician at UNLV.

"Our findings contribute to the growing body of evidence that fetal marijuana exposure may not be as safe as people think," Brar added in a university news release.

The study was published recently in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine.

Chemical compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons -- which are found in both tobacco and marijuana smoke -- may explain the fetal growth abnormalities seen in the women who used marijuana daily during pregnancy, Brar and his colleagues noted.

Advertisement

More studies are needed to learn more about how daily marijuana affects fetal growth, but doctors should advise women not to use marijuana during pregnancy, they said.

It's estimated that about 16 percent of pregnant women use marijuana daily.

Women should be screened throughout pregnancy for marijuana use and warned about its potential effects, and users should be provided with ways to stop using the drug, the researchers stressed.

More information

The March of Dimes has more on marijuana and pregnancy.

Copyright 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Latest Headlines