Researchers say increasing education and treatment – not stigmatization and penalties - is vital.
A new PTBi study of marijuana use during pregnancy has found that a cannabis diagnosis during pregnancy is associated with adverse birth outcomes.
The findings, recently published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence showed connections between having a diagnosis in medical records and the following conditions:
- Pre-eclampsia or High blood pressure during pregnancy
- Prematurity
- Small for gestational age
- NICU admission
- Certain birth defects
The researchers observed that cannabis diagnosis in pregnancy in combination with the use of other substances increased the strength of the associations, but cannabis diagnosis alone was significant in and of itself with the outcomes of interest.
Women are not going to come forward and ask for help or education about the potential negative effects of any type of exposure during pregnancy if they are going to be judged or much worse, have the threat of being criminalized and having their child removed from them.
Gretchen Bandoli, Lead Author and Assistant Professor
University of California, San Diego
These findings are timely as having a cannabis diagnosis during pregnancy tripled from 2002-2017.
“In the past, the studies displayed some associations of cannabis use or diagnosis with a few select outcomes,” said Gretchen Bandoli, lead author and assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego. “But overall, there were a lot of other outcomes with limited evidence. In fact, most pointed against there being an association.”
“Nowadays and in our study, we consistently find effects such as preterm birth, small for gestational age, and all of the outcomes we looked at. This shift in findings is creating questions around whether the potency is increasing, what’s on the market and available now, or other factors like the quantity being used.”
What should clinicians and their patients take away from the most recent findings? Rather than increasing stigmatization and penalties, focusing on education and treatment is vital. “Passing judgment and criminalization basically moves us backward,” Bandoli advised. “Women are not going to come forward and ask for help or education about the potential negative effects of any type of exposure during pregnancy if they are going to be judged or much worse, have the threat of being criminalized and having their child removed from them.”
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Cannabis-related diagnosis in pregnancy and adverse maternal and infant outcomes
