"My morning sickness lasts all day long and I’m totally drained. "
Marijuana may be helpful for nausea in general. However, it is currently not advised to take medical marijuana while pregnant or breastfeeding, because cannabis does enter the placenta and breast milk. Not taking medical marijuana is the current recommendation provided by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American College of Pediatricians (ACP).
dredmunds
A recent study out of the University of Adelaide which studied a group of 5500 women stated the following:
"The results, published online ahead of print in the journal Reproductive Toxicology, show that once all other major risk factors have been accounted for, continued marijuana use through to 20 weeks’ gestation is independently associated with a five-fold increase in the risk of pre-term birth."
This is one of the first controlled studies to absolutely show that marijuana in any form is very dangerous for unborn babies. You can read the study from the link below:
https://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news84762.html
The answer is, Yes it could potentially help with nausea but it would probably be a bad idea to do so based on this recent study. It came out only this month I believe.
pamelahadfield
Actually, I read the study by University of Adelaide and I came away with a different point of view. In the study they admitted the number of women total who fit in the study was very low. They also sited the risk is if you are continuing to use cannabis after the 20th week of pregnancy, then it potentially increases the risk of a preterm delivery. Their definition of preterm was 37 weeks gestation but having delivered babies for 45 years, full term is 40 weeks + or – 2 weeks, or 38 weeks to 42 weeks is considered normal, so in many of the cases we are talking about 1 week early on delivery. That makes this study less significant because a significant number of women will deliver at 37 weeks simply due to miscalculation in the correct date of conception but the study did not assess the baby for age of maturity at birth.
I do not see where there is any reported negative effect if the mother uses cannabis for morning sickness for a very short time and in the smallest amount possible to relieve symptoms but that the mom should terminate the use before the 20th week of pregnancy. Many moms will use cannabis in active labor to help with relaxation without detrimental effects to the baby especially in comparison to the effect of narcotics, sleeping drugs, benzodiazepines and anesthetics given to the mother in Western Medical treatment, which of course was the reason newborn intensive nurseries were started in the 1970s. The babies born under the effect of Western medical drugs had to be observed because the baby could forget to breath.
Most mothers will never do a drug if they think there’s potential harm to the baby so I really don’t advocate any drugs at all during pregnancy or birth, I encourage mothers to learn how to cope with discomfort and fear. Fear is typically the reason women will take drugs, she fears the pain could get worse. Hospitals restrict the use of immersion in salt water tubs which will also take the pain away but it’s not profitable to the hospital.
When women are given all the information about all the side effects of any of their decisions, the woman typically makes a very wise choice on the side of protecting her baby.
Learn how to cope with your fear in preparation for your birth but for your morning sickness right now, have soda crackers next to your bed and eat a few of them in the morning before you get out of bed.
Acupressure bands also help and there are a few homeopathic remedies that work well for nausea in pregnancy.
The nausea will pass and you likely will have fun in the second trimester. Babies are so sensitive to chemicals in the first three months of pregnancy, the nausea is a protected factor to keep you from ingesting anything that could potentially harm your baby.
drolson
Although I’m not qualified to answer this question as it relates to the safety of your unborn baby, I can tell that I was on a high-dosage of antibiotics after a dog bite. The trip to the ER resulted in the worst flu I’ve had in my life. So that I could keep down a couple bites of banana AND the antibiotics, I used a THC spray that goes under your tongue (sublingual), worked like a charm!
Good luck hon… I have 2 kids and only had nausea with my daughter, but it was VERY brief.
~kc
kcsnowhite
I would like to address Dr. Olson’s comments as to the University of Adelaide study that is referenced. While the authors admit that the number of preterm labor was small, their study group was quite large. The universal definition of preterm birth is one that is earlier then 37 weeks and the percent of women who fall under this definition is normally 11%. This study has shown that women who use cannabis up to their 20th week of pregnancy have a 5 times higher risk of labor and birth before their 37th week. Of these women, 64% delivered at less then 32 weeks.
The study stresses that they could not evaluate short term use or define any length of time at all that cannabis use was acceptable to use without effecting these statistics. They did not address cannabis use for labor. However I would doubt that, as a Schedule 1drug, cannabis would be allowed in any hospital delivery setting. And I do not know of any living creature at birth who "forgets to breath" with "Western medical drugs".
As Dr. Olson pointed out there are many other methods other then cannabis to help with the nausea of morning sickness that can occur early in pregnancy. No one knows why morning sickness occurs. Some think its tied to the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) that is elevated in the first trimester of pregnancy or other hormones such as estrogen.
All of that being said, I believe the take away message is that with your unborn child’s health at risk, why take a chance using cannabis at all?
Perry Solomon, MD
Despite claims that cannabis has no detrimental effects to the fetus, I am not aware of any studies substantiating the statement, thereby proving it to be safe during pregnancy. I would like to see the studies that have determined how much is not too much, how long is not too long, and what makes it’s use up until the 20th gestational week safe. Despite it’s many medicinal benefits, it is a potent, psychoactive substance which alters brain function. It has been repeatedly shown to affect neurodevelopment in adolescents and young adults whose brains are still developing. While anecdotal accounts may be dismissive, there is no data to show that this affect does not have lifelong consequences. As an advocate for children with learning and behavior problems who have been in the family court system, where history of marijuana use during pregnancy is commonplace, I would tread very cautiously. Until there is solid clinical data showing that there is absolutely no risk to the developing fetus, I recommend erring on the side of caution and refraining from using it. For more serious conditions in the pediatric population, such as intractable seizures, intractable pain, or malignancy, then I would argue that the benefit may outweigh the risk. I maintain that until we know with certainty that cannabis is not harmful to the fetus, there are other safe and effective holistic ways of dealing with nausea during pregnancy.
drfrye
