Can You Smoke Weed While Pregnant?

   Click and discover the real effects of smoking weed to your body.

Can You Smoke Weed While Pregnant? 

What is weed? Weed, also called pot, marijuana, or cannabis, is a recreational drug that comes from the hemp plant. Parts of the plant are dried and smoked in pipes or cigarettes (joints) or less commonly eaten. It is an illegal substance in the United States, except in some states that allow weed use by prescription for medical purposes.

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Can you smoke weed while pregnant?

Weed contains about 400 different chemicals and some weed cigarettes may contain other drugs or pesticides. It is very difficult to study the effects of weed use during pregnancy because some women who use marijuana may also use alcohol, tobacco, or other substances at the same time. They may also have other factors that can increase pregnancy complications, such as lack of prenatal care. In addition, accurate information on the amount, frequency, and timing of marijuana use is not usually available for study participants. These factors may help explain why we see inconsistent findings in the studies that have been published.

I am trying to become pregnant. Will weed use by myself or my partner lower my chance of becoming pregnant?

In women, long-term use of marijuana may affect the menstrual cycle and lead to a reduction in hormones involved in reproduction and fertility. In men, an association with reduced sperm count has been documented. These effects do not appear to totally prevent pregnancy, but may lower the chances. The effects on fertility appear to be reversible when marijuana is discontinued.

Will smoking or ingesting marijuana cause birth defects in my baby?

The frequency of birth defects was not higher than expected in the babies of 1246 women who reported smoking marijuana during pregnancy. However, most of the women in the study smoked only "occasionally." While this data is reassuring, in the absence of studies where women smoked more heavily, it is best to avoid marijuana during pregnancy

Can marijuana harm the baby in any other way?

The main active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is known to cross the placenta during pregnancy. This means it gets into the baby's system, although how THC may impact a developing baby is unclear. Some studies have suggested that for women who smoke marijuana cigarettes regularly, there is an increased risk for premature births and low birth weight, similar to what is seen with cigarette smoking. Premature and low birthweight babies have higher rates of infant deaths, learning problems or other disabilities.

If I smoke marijuana in the third trimester, can it cause my baby to go through withdrawal after birth?

Some newborns exposed to marijuana have been reported to have temporary withdrawal-like symptoms, such as increased tremors and crying.

Can my marijuana smoking affect the brain development of the baby?

Differences in brain activity, behavior, and sleeping patterns of infants and children exposed to marijuana in pregnancy have been reported in some studies. It is believed that these children may have more problems with attention, impulsive behavior, and academic performance. However, the evidence is far from conclusive as many of the studies reportconflicting results.

What happens if I use marijuana when I'm breast-feeding?

Marijuana can be passed to infants through their mother's breast milk. Marijuana may also affect the quality and quantity of breast milk. Although no consistent effects have been noticed in infants exposed to marijuana through breast milk, the National Institute of Drug Abuse advises that breastfeeding mothers avoid the use of marijuana.

Dangers of Smoking Weed While Pregnant

Click and discover the real effects of smoking weed to your body. 

Dangers of Smoking Weed While Pregnant

A lot of people today are smoking weed. Why they love smoking? Is smoking good for the health? Did you know the dangers of smoking weed while pregnant? Smoking affects every organ of a human body. It systematically infiltrates the body and over the course of years, destroys it. Women who smoke are likely to have children with low birth weights. This means that the infants will be less than 5.5 pounds. The low birth weight, does cause over 300,000 infant deaths a year. These deaths are directly linked to mothers who smoke and or smoked. The consequences of smoking are dire.

It causes conception to take longer. For instance, it can take up to one year of regular sexual intercourse for a smoker to get pregnant. The main drug of tobacco smoke; nicotine, constricts the blood vessels in the body and thus the umbilical cord. This causes the infant to have a diminished supply of oxygen. The continuation of smoking while pregnant also causes, the placenta to become unable to nourish the infant. Thus, the risk of placental abruption occurs. It has also been found that infants born to smokers have less muscle mass than their nonsmoking counterparts. Smoking can also increase the infants chance of dying from sudden infant death syndrome. The statistics of having a low birth weight infant from a parent who smokes is up by 17 percent. Smoking can also be passive, women who are consistently exposed to second hand smoke, can suffer from the consequences as if they were the smokers themselves. Tobacco smoke is that detrimental. Smoking causes ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, stillborn births, low birth weight, and more. Babies that are born with a low birth weight, are easily susceptible to infections. Some cases have occurred where the problems did not appear until adulthood. It also increases the chances that the infant my have asthma, or other breathing problems. Smoking when pregnant, reduces the amount of oxygen that the infant is exposed to. it causes the rate of growth to diminish and increases the risk of physical deformity. For instance, infants born to smoking mothers are at a higher risk of having a cleft palate, or cleft lip. They are also at a higher risk of having heart anomalies.

The complications that arise for smokers when pregnant are high. They also include ectopic pregnancies, which occurs when the pregnancy is out of the uterus and in the fallopian tube. This can cause death in the patient, if not caught soon. Smoking causes, rupture of the membrane, placental abruption, abortion, death and low birth weight. It increases premature birth, and ups the chances of the infant being born with SIDS to three times the normal rate. Breast feeding can also be affected by smoking. The majority of women who smoke when pregnant, can pass the cigarette chemicals to their babies, and reduce the amount of vitamins that the infant receives. It also reduces the amount of milk that the mother produces. Smoking increases the low birth rate, ratio to three times the normal weight. Infants that are born of mothers that smoked are usually 5.5 pounds or less and suffer from small heads and shorter growth rates. They are more susceptible to diseases and death.