Earlier this year, I went so-called “Cali sober,” cutting back on alcohol and introducing more marijuana.
Now, I’m pregnant , but I don’t really want to ditch my edibles — some of my friends say they’ve helped with morning sickness, and I’d still like the option of enjoying a little buzz here and there over the next nine months.
The research on cannabis use in pregnancy is less robust, and the findings less conclusive.
The most recent study — the largest of its kind to date, published in April — found that pregnant women with cannabis use disorder are more likely to deliver premature, underweight, and small-for-gestational-age babies than moms without the condition.
Plus, the compound can disrupt the endocannabinoid system, which plays a key role in supporting a healthy pregnancy and fetal brain development.
Tessa Crume, a researcher at the University of Colorado’s School of Public Health, told me the potential brain-related risks most influence her stance that there’s no safe amount of marijuana in pregnancy.
You can’t ethically run a controlled clinical trial that involves giving some pregnant people weed and telling others to abstain in order to compare their birth outcomes.
One recent review of 40 studies on the topic looked at over 1,000 comparisons between groups of kids who were exposed to cannabis in the womb and those who weren’t.
If giving up weed leads you to drink again, well, that’s an unhealthy tradeoff.
Test out safe ways to self-medicate, too.
Senior health reporter Anna Medaris Miller is here to answer all of your questions about pregnancy— especially the ones you don’t want to bring to your doctor or even friends.