POT WHILE PREGNANT? Debate rages over marijuana use during pregnancy
PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Morning sickness, back aches, and sleepless nights are symptoms many expectant mothers experience during their pregnancy, and a new study indicates more women are turning to marijuana to treat those symptoms.
Heather White was 18 when she became pregnant with her first child. She was a single mother-to-be, and life couldn't stop on days when she says her symptoms were too much to bear.
"So the pain's so bad, it can cause you to not be able to sleep at night," said White. "You're on your feet a lot and you have to do what you have to do."
For White. that meant smoking marijuana multiple times a day.
"It felt natural," said White. "I didn't ever feel like I was ever harming myself or the baby."
White sought advice from older friends, who she says medicated in the same manner. Their babies were born with what she describes as zero side affects or birth defects.
"It never came up," said White. "I had blood tests done in hospital."
That was 26 years ago, and today, White's daughter is a thriving artist who is smart and creative.
White may have been helping to set a current-day trend. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), an increasing number of women are using marijuana while pregnant, possibly for morning sickness or anxiety. From 2009 to 2016, marijuana use among pregnant women increased from 4.2 to 7.1 percent. For those 18 and younger, it went from 12.5 to 21.8 percent, and for those ages 18 to 24, it went from 9.8 to 19 percent.
"People are getting back to homeopathy. They're looking at the natural medicines that our ancestors have used," said Audrey Kerger. "This plant is nothing new. It's been used for over 8,000 years."
Kerger is a health coach and owner of a nutrition and wellness center in Phoenix, and hosts a weekly podcast called "High on Healthy". Kerger, who is also a mother, said the reason cannabis relieves pregnancy symptoms is because it helps balance the bodies largest self-regulatory system.
"We have what we call and endogenous cannabinoid system," said Kerger. "It's a group of receptors that are found throughout your entire body, including your bones, your liver, your kidneys, your pancreas. It balances everything from mood, sleep, appetite."
"The receptor that marijuana goes through is in our brain and it's in the baby's brain, and we've seen that it does go through the placenta and get to them. In lower doses, of course, but it does get to them," said Dr. Candice wood, assistant clinical professor at Arizona State University.
Dr. Wood pointed to a study conducted by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that was released a few months before the JAMA results. It found that consuming marijuana during pregnancy does affect a baby's cognitive, visual motor, and problem solving skills.
There are no indications, however, that it can cause birth defects.
Another thing the report highlights is that the potential ramifications of a positive screen result could include any mandatory reporting requirements.
In other words, your doctor could report it to the authorities.
"I'm going to tell my patients everything that I know to keep their baby as healthy as possible, their pregnancy as safe as possible, and to me, there's just no chance. There's no reason to risk it," said Dr. Wood.
"I had the best babies," said White. "The best babies."
White smoked, but only occasionally, when she was pregnant with her son, who is a few years younger than her daughter. White says the marijuana also helped with postpartum depression and coping skills when she returned to work. She knows it's not for everyone, but thinks the latest statistics are a sure sign more women are open to using marijuana to get through what could be the toughest 9 months of their lives.
There is one thing both sides seem to agree on, however, which is the need for more regulations as to where dispensaries in Arizona get their products from, in order to make it safer.
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