Dear Lactnet Friends:

As I included some research, my original post was too long to be published.
Here's the first of 2.

Dear Lactnet Friends:

Marijuana is a pain in the butt for health workers. There is no strong
evidence that it causes harm to infants. While THC is stored in fat, the
infant is not high. The mother is not high, even though she could test
positive for THC for up to a month after she smoked one joint.

If she is using marijuana, there is a chance she is also using tobacco,
caffeine, and other substances. If she is using more than one substance, it
is impossible to assign causation. If she tests positive in the hospital,
she's used the drug while pregnant.

As tobacco smoke is lethal and increase SIDS risk to infants, is exposure
to cannabis smoke also lethal? There is no strong evidence here; I am sure
that more will emerge as cannabis becomes legal in more US states.

As 2 states in the US have made marijuana legal, and more states are
considering doing so, the recommendations about breastfeeding while using
marijuana are becoming more difficult.

We need evidence based practice, and there isn't a lot about marijuana.
Remember how upsetting it was when Dr. Hallum Hurt discovered that it
wasn't the use of crack cocaine during pregnancy that hurt babies? Dr. Hurt
discovered it was the impact of poverty that hurt babies. This was not a
popular finding in the 90s!

I've made a collection of some of the research on this topic:


1)  Five-year follow-up of rural Jamaican children whose mothers used
marijuana during pregnancy.
Hayes JS, Lampart R, Dreher MC, Morgan L.

Abstract
This research provides data on the development of 59 Jamaican children,
from birth to age 5 years, whose mothers used marijuana during pregnancy.
Approximately one-half of the sample used marijuana during pregnancy and
were matched with non-users according to age, parity, and socioeconomic
status. Testing of the children was done at 1, 3, and 30 days of age with
the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scales and at ages 4 and 5
years with the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. Data about the
child's home environment and temperament were collected from direct
observations as well as from standardized questionnaires.

The results show no significant differences in developmental testing
outcomes between children of marijuana-using and non-using mothers except
at 30 days of age when the babies of users had more favourable scores on
two clusters of the Brazelton Scales: autonomic stability and reflexes. The
developmental scores at ages 4 and 5 years were significantly correlated to
certain aspects of the home environment and to regularity of basic school
(preschool) attendance.

2) Pediatrics. 1994 Feb;93(2):254-60.
Prenatal marijuana exposure and neonatal outcomes in Jamaica: an
ethnographic study.
Dreher MC1, Nugent K, Hudgins R.

Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To identify neurobehavioral effects of prenatal marijuana exposure on
neonates in rural Jamaica.

DESIGN:
Ethnographic field studies and standardized neuro-behavior assessments
during the neonatal period.

SETTING:
Rural Jamaica in heavy-marijuana-using population.

PARTICIPANTS:
Twenty-four Jamaican neonates exposed to marijuana prenatally and 20
nonexposed neonates.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:
Exposed and nonexposed neonates were compared at 3 days and 1 month old,
using the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale, including supplementary
items to capture possible subtle effects. There were no significant
differences between exposed and nonexposed neonates on day 3. At 1 month,
the exposed neonates showed better physiological stability and required
less examiner facilitation to reach organized states. The neonates of
heavy-marijuana-using mothers had better scores on autonomic stability,
quality of alertness, irritability, and self-regulation and were judged to
be more rewarding for caregivers.

CONCLUSIONS:
The absence of any differences between the exposed on non-exposed groups in
the early neonatal period suggest that the better scores of exposed
neonates at 1 month are traceable to the cultural positioning and social
and economic characteristics of mothers using marijuana that select for the
use of marijuana but also promote neonatal development.


warmly,
-- 
Nikki Lee RN, BSN, Mother of 2, MS, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI, ANLC, CKC
Author:* Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Breastfeeding Therapy*
www.nikkileehealth.com
https://www.facebook.com/nikkileehealth

*Get my FREE webinar series*

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