Smoking Marijuana while pregnant - long term effects on kids

So the public health nurse came yesterday to evaluate the little guy (17 months old) and see how he is doing developmentally. She knows he is in care (as are his siblings) and she asked some questions about Mom's pregnancy, his birth, etc. We were talking while she was doing the evaluation and she mentioned that she had just attended a seminar about drug exposed children and the short term and long term effects as the children develop. It was interesting to hear her say that studies are showing that children exposed to heroin and cocaine in-utero tend to have more issues right after birth as they are going through withdrawls and that many kids continue to have symptoms into childhood (and some into adulthood) as many have discussed on the boards. What was most interesting to me was that studies are showing that babies exposed to marijuana in-utero seemingly suffer little to no effects after birth, but begin showing signs of developmental delays and things like OCD, ODD and ADHD around the age of three. This fits DH's little sister to a T! And it's something I will keep in the back of my head for my kiddos - Mom admitted to smoking pot while pregnant, just not sure how often. Has anyone else heard of these studies? DH and I watched the show American Weed about the controversy surrounding legal dispensaries and people who are fighting to keep pot illegal. These studies definitely play into how I feel about legalizing pot.

I was doing some reading on line right after my best friends little boy was DX with Leukemia and I was blown away that it said that children who's mothers smoked pot while pregnant had a 1000 times higher risk of Leukemia. Dont kno if there is a lot of evidence to back that up, or how much of a study was done but that is mind blowing to me. (my friend didnt smoke pot) but unfortunately is fighting the fight anyway. Will be good to watch this thread.

Oh gosh. My little guys were positive for marijuana at birth...I considered it the least concerning of the 3 illegal drugs in their preemie bodies. Looks like I need to do a little reading!

Ditto!! And it was just at 2 yrs when all hell broke loose with my ADHD, ODD lil guy

Racingwife... I have not heard of these studies. Would love to get some more info about them if you have it. Our AD's bio mom smoke marijuana regularly while pregnant, (and it was the main reason for removal). I had not been able to find anything conclusive on the long term effects. Some info I found even stated that while smoking marijuana during pregnancy is not recommended, the doctor would rather they smoke that over cigarettes. So I was thinking we really would not have that many issues to deal with. I had no idea about issues arising later such as ADHD, ODD, etc. Would love any insight!

I read the same thing as ELK134 when my young sister was pregnant at 18. She smoked cigarettes for the first couple months and it drove me nut. I lectured her often about the effects on her baby. She quit after a couple months but kept smoking marijuana. She also smoked marijuana with her 2nd pregnancy more recently. So needless to say I was concerned and researched it. I found some info on it having less effects than cigarettes and then some info on it being undetermined at this point how it effects the baby. Most things stated the obvious to most pregnant women, why would you smoke it if it could even possibly harm your unborn baby. But then not every pregnant women thinks this logically.

I would also be really interested in the study specifics if you have them. I'm currently caring for my nephew and he had THC in his system when he was born. His mom claims that she was exposed to second-hand marijuana smoke, though she couldn't find any doctor who'd actually back her up on that. Recently she suddenly started claiming that her BF at the time would put marijuana in his food and that she might have accidentally eaten something. Give me a break!! He has been a VERY difficult child and I've always wondered if any of it was due to her having smoked marijuana while she was pregnant. He came into our care a few days after his 3rd birthday. I had known him before that (he's my sister's youngest son and she and her kids lived with my parents), but I wasn't in a "caretaker" role so I'd never really had cause to try to discipline him or get him into a routine. Still, he certainly didn't seem that difficult. His speech was horribly behind when he came into our care, but it's great now after months of hard work. So currently he's not delayed at all, he's actually ahead of his peers. Hopefully that will continue, but at such a young age (4.5 now) it's impossible to tell. He definitely had a lot of OCD and ODD behavior at first, but most of that seems to have gone away. I don't know if that's due to all the work and therapy we have done with him or not. I do agree that you definitely shouldn't be smoking ANYTHING during pregnancy. If there's a chance it might hurt the baby ... don't do it! (unless it's medically necessary ... and getting high isn't.) Just don't understand how people can be so selfish and put their own desires before an innocent without a voice. :(

I'd be interested in links to these studies, too. When I first researched it, I only found things like low birth weight, premature births and asthma to be linked to marijuana. Our now 3 year old seems totally fine, even pretty smart. Our 1 1/2 year old has mild asthma and also seems sharp. I remember the bio family mentioning that another kid in the family had leukemia. I was really hoping that we wouldn't have to worry about any medical or developmental timebombs since pot was supposedly bio mom's only drug. Guess I need to keep reading up on it. Thanks for this post. I'm going to rant for a second. I see how a drug-addicted mom on crack, heroine, etc, is too weak to stop using when she gets pregnant. I'm not condoning, just acknowledging the power of addiction and the weakness of some people. But marijuana? Come on! If it's not physically addictive, then I think any mom who smokes it while she is pregnant has the emotional maturity of a lump of playdoh. *smacks hand to forehead*

My cousin smoked pot,while being pregnant for nausea.Her son is very smart,I think he could have OCD and ODD,from what I read about them,but he seemed like he's always had issues,since he was a baby.He seem to have colic,that wouldn't go away,he's never like to eat much,he's always been sensitive.He's 3 3/4 years old know,I notice he likes to hit people with object,pull hair and has a fit,when u put him in time out.He hates changing clothes,brushing teeth or hair,this becomes a battle everyday.

My dd's bm smoked pot while pregnant. No issues so far. She's 3 1/2. There was a period of about 4 months, right when she turned 3, that she was just so defiant and sassy-- I thought it was the beginning of an issue. But it's passed, and I'm pretty sure it was just part of being 3. My son will be 3 next month, though, and EVERYONE says ADHD, ODD with him. He has diagnosed SPD, and is going in for an FAE evaluation at the end of the summer. The only thing bm admitted to is drinking and smoking cigarettes. However, knowing her as I know her now, and seeing more of her lifestyle, I would not be surprised if she smoked pot while pregnant, as well. However, that's just my hunch--no proof at all.

This is scary! Our AD was also positive at birth, and like a lot of people have said, the research I did made it sound like there would be no effects at all. She's a difficult child, but it's hard to know if it's the age (almost 3) or the history or the drug effects.

Way back in the golden days, before my house was over run with screaming children, I was taking a university class, the professor was a pharmacist and he went off on a 25-30 minute rant on pregnant women smoking pot. I kid you not he was totally for it. He stated some info from study's in Jamaica and explained his feeling on having a natural anti nausea (pot) vs some of the medications given to pregnant women. At the time I was blown away, I had never been pregnant and thought this was crazy. Fast forward a few years and I am pregnant and very very sick (read throwing up 12+ times a day) I attempted to take the anti nausea pills my dr promised wouldn't make me drowsy and ended up sleeping for 24 hours. This was unsafe for me because had my adopted son who was only about a year old to care for. One night the hubby and I attended a university football game where I got a strong whiff of secondhand pot. I felt so much better I couldn't believe it. At that point I wanted to smoke pot so bad just to feel better, and stop throwing up. I had a picc line, and was spending a ton of time at the hospital/dr. Nothing was helping. I discussed it with my hubby, and dr and decided not to smoke pot. I can sympathize with women who chose to smoke while pregnant for medical reasons, but the women who just smoke for fun blow my mind. Any who the moral of my story is if your researching this you might want to look at some international study's as well.

We had a nb little girl who tested positive at birth, and everyone warned us she would likely be a very difficult baby. Wow, they were so wrong! She slept soooo much I had to wake her for feedings, and really work at keeping her awake long enough to eat just a few oz's. I realize most nb's sleep alot, but this was ALOT! I asked the Dr about it, and he said it's one of the main symptoms in a nb. He told my DH and me that you have to look at the way it works in adults...mellows them out, helps them relax, ect. The same is true for children born with pot in their systems...very mellow, chillaxin babies. He warned us though that this can turn into failure to thrive quickly, if you're not super careful about feedings. Also, her muscle tone was quite low there for a while because she wasn't spending enough wakeful time moving her arms, legs, ect. Everything worked itself out, in a few short months, and she did really well after that. Even at 2 yrs old though, it was still very hard to get her to eat enough of anything!

I wonder what the rates of OCD, ODD and ADHD (or whatever ailments mom's pot smoking is supposed to cause in kids) are in countries where smoking pot is legal, then? I haven't heard that Amsterdam is overrun with ODD kids, but then again, I haven't looked into it. I think one of the complicating factors in that research is that if you look at kids being raised by the same people who smoked pot while pregnant, there may be other features of that upbringing (lack of structure, lack of consistent caregiving, etc.) that contribute to dx like ODD and ADHD. Then again if you take kids who were removed from pot-smoking mom and put in foster care and/or adopted, you have the traumas of those removals and upheavals which may contribute to behavioral and educational dx as well.

I have been getting the worst morning sickness you could ever imagine for almost a month now. I tried everything to reduce the nausea and the vomiting but its not working good for me. I tried searching alternative things to help with the morning sickness and i came up with this article about cannabis and this certain kind of strain at Im a little afraid for the fact that im pregnant and thinking that i could affect the baby inside me. What should i do?