Cannabis Usage During Pregnancy May Effect Children’s Mental Health

A new study came to the conclusion that children whose mothers used cannabis during the first few weeks of their pregnancy may be more susceptible to mental health problems. The study analyzed 10,000 children who had mothers that used cannabis when they were pregnant with them.

Each of the children was between the age of 11 and 12. Researchers revealed that children who were exposed to cannabis in the womb were more likely at developing mental health problems like ADHD and anything that can cause aggressive or rule-breaking behavior. This data was reported in JAMA Pediatrics.

The study’s first author, David Baranger has claimed the message of this analysis was to caution future parents to not take cannabis during their pregnancy because it could cause complications to their children which is not fair.

Though this study has some truth to it you can not say for certain that cannabis is to blame.

Further research was done on the same children who were ongoing participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. This new analysis was conducted on 12,000 children and the development of their brains via MRI scans.

The brain scans showed that there could be a hint of potential damage from what could be cannabis.

A study from 2019 looked at the same children when they were 9 and 10 years old and came to the same conclusion that they did now. Another factor looked at was that children whose mothers used cannabis during pregnancy had a lower birth weight, smaller brain volume, and white matter volume.

In 2018 the number of women who used cannabis during pregnancy was 4.7%. Although this is relatively a small percentage experts have identified a small increase over the years. In 2019 this number went up by 1% according to a government survey.

The reason why some women use cannabis during their pregnancy is that it can help with symptoms such as nausea. Baranger said that this is not a good idea and does not recommend it at all. It’s better to talk to your health care provider.

Baranger and other researchers took a look at around 11,000 children who were a part of the NIH brain study and separated the children into three different groups. Group one had children whose mothers did not use cannabis during pregnancy, group two included children whose mothers used cannabis during pregnancy but stopped when they found out they were pregnant, and group three had children whose mothers used cannabis even after learning they were pregnant.

The impact that cannabis had mostly affected the middle of the first trimester. The use of it earlier in the pregnancy did not have an effect. Baranger believes this is due to the fact that cannabis can not be detected in a fetal brain yet.

Staci Gruber, director of Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery said that it’s not surprising that some women turn to cannabis during pregnancy. Lots of women are not aware of the harm that they could be potentially putting their children in but many natural substances can cause some degree of harm.

A flaw with this study is that there is not a limit or set of data that shows how long each mother was using cannabis. Not only that but there is no information on how they were using the cannabis. This does not change that the information was analyzed carefully and as accurately as possible.

Recommendations for nausea during pregnancy include eating small meals every couple of hours, avoiding spicy foods, avoiding iron through supplements, and eating dry bland foods.

Using cannabis is not recommended for any women who are pregnant. Talk with your healthcare provider for more information about how to deal with pregnancy.

Written by Esteban Ruiz
Edited by Sheena Robertson

Sources:

NBS News: Cannabis use during pregnancy may cause mental health problems in children

Aol.: Cannabis use during pregnancy linked to mental, behavioral health issues in kids

Upi: Study: Study: Study: Cannabis use during pregnancy may harm child’s long-term mental health

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