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 Other recent studies have also documented a rise in cannabis use
among pregnant women of all ages, with some evidence of particularly
sharp increases for teens and young adults. For the current study,
researchers analyzed the proportion of pregnant women who used
alcohol, tobacco or cannabis from 2002 to 2016.
Overall, the odds that pregnant women would use cannabis rose 3
percent a year during the study period, researchers report in JAMA
Pediatrics. The increases were only seen in the first trimester and
were most pronounced for women ages 26 to 44 and with at least a
high school education.
Over the same period, the odds that pregnant women would use alcohol
decreased two percent a year and the odds for cigarette use dropped
three percent a year.
"Our findings are a reminder that while we are doing a decent job of
discouraging pregnant women from using alcohol and tobacco during
pregnancy, the message regarding potential adverse effects of
cannabis exposure during pregnancy on fetal development is not
getting out there," said lead study author Arpana Agrawal of
Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis.
The proportion of pregnant women using cannabis rose from less than
3 percent in 2002 to almost five percent by 2016, the study found.
During this period, the proportion of pregnant women using alcohol
fell from about 10 percent to about 8 percent, and the proportion
using cigarettes dropped from about 18 percent to about 10 percent.
The study can't prove that cannabis, alcohol or tobacco impacts the
health of pregnant women or their babies, nor can it explain why
cannabis use rose while use of other substances declined.
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"It is possible that the strong public health messages regarding the
potential harms of alcohol and tobacco exposure during pregnancy
have resulted in women being less likely to use them," Agrawal said
by email.
Doctors might also place more emphasis on warning women against the
use of alcohol and cigarettes during pregnancy because these habits
are more common than the use of cannabis or other drugs, Agrawal
said.
"It is also possible that as cannabis use is increasingly viewed
with permissiveness, or because it can be prescribed as a medicine
in some states, there might be the misunderstanding that it is safe
to use during pregnancy," Agrawal added.
Some women may have heard that cannabis helps with pregnancy-related
nausea, she noted. But most of the research linking cannabis to
reduced nausea symptoms has involved cancer patients suffering from
side effects of chemotherapy, and not pregnant women suffering from
morning sickness.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists discourages
doctors from prescribing or suggesting the use of marijuana for
medicinal purposes while women are trying to conceive, pregnant, or
nursing their babies.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2F2iXzQ JAMA Pediatrics, online November 5,
2018.
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