Pregnant and Smoking Marijuana

I am 28yrs old and I have a three year old who I smoked weed during the whole pregnancy. My doctor also said that it was worse to smoke cigarettes than weed, but that I should quit both. I never quit weed, because I found it very hard to stop, especially since I had Hyperemises, which is a illness you get while pregnant that causes you to throw up 20-50 times a day, causing severe dehydration, malnutrition, and sometimes hospitalization. My son was born 5 weeks early, but so were my other children, and I never smoked with them. However, my son was recently tested by the state of Arizona, and a psychologist, and has been found to have emotional problems and social problems that may have been caused by fetal exposure to marijuanna. However, with the instability ny husband and I have had in our household in the past 3 years, and the fact that my son never went to daycare or had any friends his age, this could also be a contributing factor as to why he has theseproblems. For all of those who choose to smoke while you are pregnant in the state of Arizona, BEWARE!!!! THERE ARE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW!!!! All babies are blood tested and have their first stool tested for drugs. Your baby creates it's first stool around 5 months. If you smoke from 5 months on, your baby WILL TEST POSITIVE by stool sample. I delivered early and unexpectedly, so my baby delivered positive. CPS was called to Arrowhead hospital, and I was asked to sign a contract stating I would not breastfeed him until I tested clean, and I was set up on TASK, a durg testing facility, to test 2 times. For about 3 months after he was born, 2 caseworkers came twice aweek and "taught" me how to take care of the baby, and reported back to the CPS caseworker. The CPS caseworker took me to TASK once for a urinalysis, and once for a hair follicle test. They never took my baby away; but let's just say, it wasn't the blissfull, bonding time I wanted with my son, and I had to live in fear and jump through hoops for three months. I am now almost 10 weeks pregnant again, and I am quitting this time. To all those prego mom's out there, don't beat yourself up if you don't quit. I know how you feel, and your problems do NOT make you a bad person. And being a good parent does not give you the right to judge other parents because they didn't do the things for their children that you did. They don't love their children any less than you; if they did, they wouldn't cut back or worry or research what this drug can do to their baby. Trust me, they love their children just as much as you. One last piece of advice, BE HONEST WITH YOUR DOCTOR about your drug use. Doctor/Patient confidentiality and the HIPPAA ACT prevent him from talking about it to anyone, unless you deliver dirty, then you will sign a release of information with CPS and they will have legal clearance to talk to your doctor. Don't let this deter you from telling your doctor everything, because he will probably already know your status on drugs due to the urinalysis they do at every visit, usually includes a drug test, so he'll know anyway and CPS will usually not speak to himin person, but instead request your UA results from your doctor visits.

i think it is bull crao for ppl to be judging others for their choices and mistakes and blah blah blah. ppl come to this sight for help and guidance not someone making them feel like pure sh*t to the point they want to go blow a bullet thru their friggin . so how about all the sterotypical and judgmental ppl on this website delete your f'n profiles because you are doing no good. and like your perfect... have you ever done drugs, have you ever hit a woman, have you ever stole? let me ask you this did God make you perfect and know all be all....i dont think so, so heres an idea how about you help someone instead of breaking them down, if you had a question or concern that was important to you would you want someone screaming your wrong your wrong your wrong or would you want someone to actually take the time to help....take that for some thought

i was just reading what people had to say about this situation, smoking marijuana in pregnancy. first of all i think that no one has the right to judge anyone. no one is perfect !!!! also you can not compare vine ( alcohol ) and weed.... some people think they know it all !!!

Some people are so mean and so judgemental....I really dont understand the point of it.
I am 9 weeks pregnant and I smoke pot about twice a day. I have really bad anxiety in the morning (that I use to take ant-anxiety medication for pre pregnancy) and I have trouble sleeping....even with the pregnancy fatigue. For that also, I was also taking perscription sleeping pills that did not ever do anything for me.
My point that I want to get at is I have been on all sorts of perscription drugs...anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, tranquelizers, and sleeping pills. Somehow the drugs keps getting to be more and more by my doctor. POINT BEING.......those drugs have ruined my life and I would way rather put gulps of marijuana into my body than anyone of those poisonous drugs. Because thats all they are. When I told my doctor I feel more depressed now than when I was diagonsed with depression....she asked me if I wanted to go back on something for the depression.........Yes I would love to go back on Paxil and watch commercials on tv every day that say....."if you have taken the drug paxil while pregnant and your child has suffered from pulminary heart....something or the other.....please call this number to file your claim." LOL OK ILL JUMP RIGHT ON BOARD FOR MORE DRUGS! At least weed comes from the ground. A year ago I actually was very very agains smoking weed. Thats just how my parents raised me to believe. Then finding out my dad smoked for 20 years......not ever having a clue and believing and still believing hes the best dad ever.
Anyway.....after what all these crazy drugs have done to me over the last year. Im done putting those poisons into my body. People really just dont know enough about it to even open their mouths. Its very sad how some of you can be so crude and hurtful. I must know alot of terrible, stupid mothers who should of had abortions....and yadeyadeyada....Including myself. The statistics are already right infront of my face from all the mothers I know that have smoked weed while pregnant. Granted not alllll of my friends do that but the ones that have chose to.....their children are smart, beautiful, and retardation-free :-) If weed hasn't statistally proven that it causes birth defects like all those other stupid drugs your doctors are encouraging you to take.....then you are probably A-OK!

For all of those who choose to smoke while you are pregnant in the state of Arizona, BEWARE!!!! THERE ARE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW!!!! All babies are blood tested and have their first stool tested for drugs. Your baby creates it's first stool around 5 months. If you smoke from 5 months on, your baby WILL TEST POSITIVE by stool sample. I delivered early and unexpectedly, so my baby delivered positive. CPS was called to Arrowhead hospital, and I was asked to sign a contract stating I would not breastfeed him until I tested clean, and I was set up on TASK, a durg testing facility, to test 2 times. For about 3 months after he was born, 2 caseworkers came twice aweek and "taught" me how to take care of the baby, and reported back to the CPS caseworker. The CPS caseworker took me to TASK once for a urinalysis, and once for a hair follicle test. They never took my baby away; but let's just say, it wasn't the blissfull, bonding time I wanted with my son, and I had to live in fear and jump through hoops for three months. I am now almost 10 weeks pregnant again, and I am quitting this time.

I'm pretty sure not all babies are tested in Arizona...I had my son almost a year ago at Banner Thunderbird, they didn't test his blood or meconium. And my ob/gyn doesn't drug test at visits, either...pretty sure the only time they do is when you tell them you've had a history of drug abuse or are currently using. Your baby was probably tested because he was premature. They have strict guidelines in arizona about when to test mother and infant...

hi this message is to the people who posted questions about how will ur baby be if u smoked, well i was just wondering since its a year later, how are your babies? i have also smoked while not knowing i was pregnant and i am very concerned about my baby. please let me kno the status of ur babys health, it would be great information to me. thanks

It's clearly stated that IT DOESN'T HARM YOU OR THE BABY.
It actually helps relax muscles, relax your stomach, and of course.. like me helps me eat
because of morning sickness.
Don't worry I'm sure your fine..

However, the least it can do will maybe.. MAYBE put you in premature labor.. but NO, it doesn't kill the baby.
I've smoked almost everyday before I found out I was pregnant, I stopped smoking alot.
But every once in a while I will smoke so I can eat.

It's not a proven fact yet, so as long as your not doing it daily.. you'll be fine.

smoking marijuanna these days is not a big deal fo alot of pregnant people because to many people do it

Thanks everybody for the info am about 8wks pregnant and have decided that smoking pot as much as it help me relax is more trouble than i need. I worry so much in am hurting my baby its still early in my pregnancy so i am making the perfect choice hope that it has no ill effects on my baby.

All the people that say its harmful, are the retarded ones. I guess since its illegal that makes it bad? Go get ur facts validated before assuming things. The federal goverment has made marijuana bad since the early 1900's, because of the lack of profits attainable. Their is no proof that its harmful. the only problem with smoking while pregnant is the fact that its illegal. Marijuana is and can be used for medicinal(sp) purposes. Its known that it relieves anxiety and reduces nausea. Those reasons alone are probably why anyone smokes in this type of case. so for all the people that think it causes problems, go take another pharmaceutical that has not been proven to not cause ANY long term side effects. Go take more pain killers and other prescribed pollutants that give nosebleeds and headaches.

Not only is it highly unlikly that marijuana could kill your baby and this could be said for a great many things(for example falling down,vigourous exercise, over medication, malnurishment,ect.like anything its not what you do, it how you do it. Some European studies have show that T.H.C. the active ingriedient in marijuana have been shown to be helpful to the brain during early developement. Please keep in mind that this was not a very big amount, (approx. one joint a week for part of the pregnancy) it is, however, a drug and like any other drug, if you abuse it there are consiquencses. As for the asthma, this is true not because of the T.H.C. but the delivery mthod(smoke!!!)for people with breathing problems, pregnant or nursing, a vaporizer would be best.as for post delivery testing the standard battery of test ran on an infant would not reveal marijuana use. However if suspect complications you should always divulge EVERYTHINHG to your doctor.

For all who replied with negative answers: where is your proof? One even said smoking weed could kill your baby. Are you kidding me? Look at all the pregnant women who smoke cigarettes. Why doesn't anyone stop them from smoking? A cigarette is FULL of chemicals and yet, no one stops smoking while pregnant. I myself am 9 weeks pregnant and marijuana is the ONLY thing that will allow me to keep any type of nourishment down. I suffer from extreme nausea and vomitting and weed has saved my life. One hoot makes the nausea disappear and I can eat almost a whole meal. I would never smoke a cigarette while pregnant and think whoever does should get a lot more flack than those who smoke weed. Marijuana grows straight out of the ground and into my lungs. Tobacco is infused with THOUSANDS of chemicals. Where are the chems in weed? I am not saying weed is NOT harmful in any way, but to say that it could kill your baby is absolutely untrue.
Make Love, Not War. <3

People- come on! Your judgement of the woman who smoked up to her 5th or 6th month of pregnancy is ridiculous! Please research Melanie Dreher and her research on prenatal ganga use in Jamaica. Of course American research shows that marijuana causes poor fetal outcomes- probably because the studied mothers also use a variety of other substances, including alcohol, and most likely hit the junk-food-fake-food-non-food HARD! American research on this topic is quite faulty actually. Just research Melanie Dreher. Looking at the other side of the coin rather than jumping at being judgmental may surprise you!

The comments on here are ridiculous. People have been smoking marijuana since anchient times, 7000 BC, and we've all gotten here just fine. Once upon a time midwives actually recommended marijuana to stimulate the appetite and help with nausea. Marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol or nicotine and yet they are legal. Marijuana has been illegal less than a fraction of 1% of it's recorded use and it's illegality is all bureaucratic. Hemp has a wide variety of uses including the production of paper. It's cheaper to produce, more durable than cotton and can be made into thread and yarn for clothing purposes among other textiles at far less costs because it grows just about anywhere. Hemp, the male marijuana plant, contains no THC, why isn't hemp legal. It has to be imported because of the cotton industry in the US making it more expensive and less economical to use when it's actually cheaper to produce.

My Biological Father died from cirrhosis of the liver, my moms an alcoholic, my fiancee died when I was 19 because she was drinking and driving. Alcohol has had such a negative impact on my life personally and the lives of so many more. One of my best friends when I was young died in a car accident because his mom had him put on xanex because of his anxiety attacks and he nodded out at the wheel. You people want to b.... about anything your feeble minds cant understand yourselves and just accept the spoonfed BS forced down your throats all in the pursuit of money. Drug companies kill thousands each year with drugs pushed through FDA approval all in the pursuit of money. They get a fine. Nobody cares.

How has marijuana negatively impacted my life? It's illegalization. Not one of my friends or family have ever died from taking a toke. It's 100% natural, no tar or other ingredients added. In my opinion, If I believed in god, it's the greatest overlooked jaded substance on earth. All because of money. I mean how can all these other nations where marijuana is legal get along without tearing themselves to bits or smoking themselves into the abyss. Yeah, I guess a bad case of the munchies kills, huh?

Do some research people. My mom smoked when she was pregnant with me and my sister. My wife smoked with both our kids. No deformities. In fact, we were all advanced for our ages. Our son is ready to start kindergarten and he's 3. My sister holds 2 degress and graduated magna cum laude. I know doctors and lawyers that smoke and I myself work in the scientific community and do a lot of government work. Don't believe everything you read on the internet or see on the TV that certain "organizations" have the money to shove down your throat.

I'm not saying bad things can't happen.

To the mother: Don't worry yourself too much about it. If you want to avoid the hassle just drink plenty of fluids and don't smoke any more until after the baby is born. If they test you you will probably test clean. Worst case scenario is you test positive for mj and Health & Human Services will send a social worker. They will do an evaluation to make sure you are a fit mother and come checkout your house. As long as your not a crack head living in the slums you'll be fine. They'll probably put you under supervision and randomly drug test you until they are sure your not going to neglect or endanger the baby and then close the case in a month or so.

They are not the police, they are just looking out for you and the baby. As long as you don't have the baby in a bathtub and try to hide it from them because you've been smoking crack you'll be fine. They are there to help you and make sure the baby has a good home. If your a responsible adult that just happens to toke on occasion then you'll just have to stop for a while and jump through some hoops. I'm sure you and your baby will be fine, just try to keep a positive outlook and take good care of that precious little being.

-zp

Please read the following study on smoking pot while pregnant and inform yourself on the truth rather than your own facts.

There is NO Scientific proof nor study that shows that smoking pot will harm your child, yes there are the chances your baby could have a low birth rate but that is the case with drinking diet soda, eating deli meat and so on. Rather than create a crisis by providing people with YOUR idea of a fact find a real case study and educate yourself and others on the subject matter. Here are some case studies I researched in medical school. I do not tell women in my practice to smoke pot while they are pregnant but have had many women who tell me that with the research and case studies have helped them to make their own medically informed decision rather than using scare tactics.

Also, I have never seen a Dr, OB or midwife test for drugs unless we are sure the mother is harming her unborn child such as the case with meth addiction, crack cocaine and other illegal street drugs.
You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts