The first major study was based on data from
the Maternal Health Practices and Child
Development Study (MHPCD), which
followed a group of children from low-
income families. Does cannabis harm unborn babies?
So, based on this old research and a handful
of new reviews, what sort of side effects can
we expect from consuming cannabis while
pregnant?
The children had been exposed to cannabis in
the womb and researchers reported on the
children after they were born, at six years of
age, and at 10. Does cannabis actually harm unborn babies?
Based on this evidence, here are a few things
research has taught us about the plant:
1:-Cannabis is like caffeine
The second oft-cited study is the Ottawa
Prenatal Prospective Study (OPPS) which
followed a group of mostly middle-class
white women through their pregnancies.
Children were observed at ages one, three,
and between the ages of nine and 12.
Finally, the third study was conducted in
Jamaica by Dr. Melanie Dreher.
This study followed 59 women through
pregnancy and collected data on their children
to five years of age.
About half of the mothers consumed cannabis
during pregnancy. After age 5, this long-term
study lost funding from the National Institutes
on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
Unfortunately, none of these studies are very
recent. The MHPDC began in 1982. The
OPPS study began in 1978. The Jamaican
study was also conducted in the 1980s.
While this research is longitudinal, meaning
that it follows participants over long periods
of time, much of today’s caution about
prenatal cannabis consumption comes from
research that is now decades old.
When it comes to breastfeeding, the research
on cannabis is even worse. Most research was
conducted over two decades ago.
That research is still being included as central
sources of data in more
recent reviews.
While it’s not often described this way,
caffeine is the most popular psychoactive
drug in the world. In fact, an estimated 85
percent of the U.S. population consumes a
caffeinated beverage at least once per day.
There’s a reason why doctors recommend
limiting caffeine intake to 200 milligrams or
less during pregnancy.
Developing babies do not have the enzymes
needed to deactivate and detox the caffeine,
meaning that excess amounts of caffeine
metabolites can build up in a foetus’ brain.
For cannabis, an estimated 10 to 30 percent of
the THC consumed by the mother crosses the
placenta.
Unfortunately, no one really knows where
psychoactive THC goes in a developing
foetus and what impact it might have.
Yet, like caffeine, studies have shown that
exposing an unborn baby to cannabis may
pose an increased risk for decreased growth,
low weight for gestational age, and low
weight at birth.
While these risks are important to consider,
it’s also important to acknowledge that these