Guest Blog: “Babies, Breast Milk and Marijuana”
Thomas Hale, R.Ph., Ph.D., executive director of the InfantRisk Center
Today we have a guest blog written by Dr. Thomas Hale of InfantRisk. InfantRisk focuses on research concerning breastfeeding and medication to help moms make an informed choice about the risks of breastfeeding while taking medication. They have the most up to date information and are the go to for questions concerning medication safety and breastfeeding! You can help support InfantRisk by donating here: Support InfantRisk
Changing legislation, political rhetoric and pop culture
have brought marijuana use to the forefront of life in America. While many remain
deeply divided about its use, it’s undeniably ubiquitous in our modern society
and the debate over its legalization will likely rage on for some time. And for
as many as 3 percent of pregnant women in the U.S., it’s effects on babies’
development and transfer in breast milk is a real concern. Despite the
widespread use of this product, we simply do not know about the potential
neurobehavioral effects of this drug on unborn and newborn breastfeeding babies.
Cannabis is a psychoactive drug that provides feelings of
euphoria, mood changes and even hallucinations. Its active ingredient,
delta-9-THC, affects the brain noticeably for only a few hours, but its residue
can be stored in tissues for 2 to 3 weeks. In pregnant mothers, cannabis use
has been linked to risk of motor, social and cognitive disturbances in babies
exposed to cannabis prenatally. Another study found an increased incidence of
smaller heads in kids age 9 to 12 who were exposed to frequent or heavy
marijuana use during gestation. It’s even possible that cannabis exposure in
utero actually cause memory problems and is linked to low birth weight
leukemia.
Marijuana use was once viewed as relatively safe for
breastfeeding mothers, but numerous animal studies now question this concept.
Marijuana is secreted in breast milk, but one study found that of 27 women who
used cannabis daily during breastfeeding, the babies experienced no difference
in growth, mental and motor development than other babies.
However, breast milk accumulates 8 times more cannabis than
plasma. This accumulation might be sufficient to alter long-term
neurobehavioral functioning. And,
infants exposed to marijuana through breast milk may test positive in urine
screens for 2 to 3 weeks. More and more research is becoming available that
indicates that early exposure to cannabis may be hazardous and could cause long-term changes in an
infant’s behavior and mental health later on.
For the mother, cannabis might produce changes in hormones
and limit prolactin, growth hormone and thyroid stimulating hormones, as well
as corticotropin, which prepares the body for birth. Chronic cannabis use may also
lead to depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder in some women.
There’s still so much we don’t know about marijuana and its
applications in health care. There are
positive studies showing some effect on controlling seizures, some effect on
pain management. So, marijuana appears to be a mix of good and bad. As more
states will probably legalize the use of marijuana, mothers might come to
believe it’s completely safe. However, the research indicates that it could
cause significant mental and developmental changes in babies exposed during
pregnancy or and maybe breastfeeding. So, mothers should abstain from its use
(at least in pregnancy and breastfeeding) until we have the whole story.
