Smoking While Pregnant

[DeadBodyLady]

So basically I am now 13 days away from giving birth and have stopped smoking but smoked through out my whole pregnancy. If I didnt or tried to go without I would get sick to a point i was throwing up and had absolutly no desire to eat. My dr.s knew i was getting high and said nothing to me about it but now the hospital is telling me that they will take legal action against me and try to take my unborn daughter away if its still in my system. Anyone have any advice about the situation or can give me any info of the effect of cannabis on unborn babies?

 

[TorturedSoul]

Advice? Hope for an uncomplicated pregnancy and elect to go with a home birth. That will see that the newborn is not thrust immediately into the hospital's jurisdiction. In anything, fighting an attempt at confiscation by the government is easier than fighting to recover items that have already been confiscated. While it is true that human beings are completely different than mere possessions, I suspect that the same advice would apply to newborn babies.

[EDIT: Hire an excellent lawyer NOW.]

Best of luck to you.

 

[mrlahey]

What happened to you and your baby?

My wife smoked all through both of her pregnancies and our children are normal as can be. I doubt it would hurt the baby more than tobacco and they don't take children away from cigarette smokers.

 

[HigherDrifter]

I think you're child is in more danger from the hospital and government than it ever could be with you smoking Cannabis during the pregnancy.

I've known a number of women who smoked Cannabis (and nothing else) during their pregnancies, I mean on up till the child was ready to come out, and there were no complications at all, and the children were healthy and grew up fine. Things were different back then, and around where I was from. People weren't stickin their noses in everybody else's business as bad as they're doing it nowadays.

Makes me sick to my stomach to read that the hospital is giving you all that bullshit about taking your child away from you just because you've been smoking Cannabis.

I know this is rather belated for me to say now since you've already given birth...

I hope everything turns out okay.

Hope you took a little bit of TorturedSoul's advice and at least didn't go back to that same hospital, or at least changed doctors, or something. You don't need that kind of harassment from the hospital, a place that's supposed to be there for your benefit and health, not their stupid ideologies and fascist bullshit.



My heart's out to ya woman.

 

[DeadBodyLady]

Thanks for the advice and well wishes!!!!

Ariah is at home and healthy as can be!! She and I both passed the drug sceen (even though I didn't smoke for 10 days) Child protective services never evn got envolved

 

[TorturedSoul]

You passed? Hmm... It's a good thing that you are not sitting there grievously suffering from the mental and emotional trauma that the hospital put you through... Otherwise you might be inclined to sue the whole place for an amount that has lots of zeros in it.

 

[Space Oddity]

I'm glad things worked out well in the end, but wow... I've never heard of anyone being told something like that.

 

[DeadBodyLady]

Oh i know. Im very happy this didnt give me postpardum depression or anything. Im pretty sure that i am a great parent stoner and all but my child would be better in a foster home then with mommy and daddy who get high off and on in the day after she is asleep and check on her constantly. Brilliant logic

 

[KatharsisAmok]

I went through that torment back in '03. I was suffering from severe hyperemesis gravidarum. I tried to quit smoking, but the incessant vomiting was preventing me from keeping anything down. Smoking was the only thing that helped with the nausea. I was honest about using cannabis with the hospital & learned the hard way that it was ill-advised. My children were all seized & my family was put through hell. CPS got my then 3 year old daughter to say that my ex had "given her a doobie", an outright lie, on the promise that she could go home. (That was their justification for keeping them after the first court date.)

We had hell getting them back & only through the good fortune of having a decent caseworker at that. (Some of her co-workers had already promised to adopt my kids out to one of the several different fosters they'd been placed with in a months time.) I got them back in about two months, after having lost my milk & been through an emotional hell & can't even begin to express. (They were injected with all manner of crap, drugged without my consent, & their names may have been changed via reissuing ss cards without middle names, all during this time.) Many are worse off. I'd be especially thankful to have dodged that bullet, if I were you. CPS is a business, & the children of tokers are especially adoptable, often being well adjusted & cared for. They get massive amounts of federal money to drag these kids into the system & even more if they can label them "special needs", drug them, & adopt them out.

As far as what I've heard about it's effect on babies, I've had an older doctor tell me he'd never seen anything that led him to believe that smoking marijuana during pregnancy caused harm to the unborn child, & another who told me, "The system is out of control. I'm sorry, but you & your family are the victims." The worst harm it causes is through the system.

 

[Panic]

I'll preface this by saying I'm an avid smoker.

Why are you smoking anything while prego? Did you child ask you to smoke? Did you ask you child if it was ok to pollute their precious innocent body with your smoke?

I don't see how you can justify smoke of any kind? Sometimes in life YOU have to make sacrafices...even small ones like not smoking for 9 months!!

Even edibles would be out of the quesion in my opinion as the same affect they have on you, they had on your unborn child.

Shame on you and your selfishness. Would you force your child to smoke right now? In 5 years? In 10? I bet you would let him/her smoke when they are old enough to make their own choices...and that would be ok in my book.

Be a drug user, don't be a drug pusher on those who don't have a choice in the matter.

If the hospital/doctors wanted to do something, they should have..and they would have been in the right! Just because you wanted to get high (for whatever reason) doesn't make it OK to get your child high.

Now, I'll sit back and take all the bashing you're prepared to give.

peace...

 

[KatharsisAmok]

I'll preface this by saying I'm an avid smoker.

Why are you smoking anything while prego? Did you child ask you to smoke? Did you ask you child if it was ok to pollute their precious innocent body with your smoke?

I don't see how you can justify smoke of any kind? Sometimes in life YOU have to make sacrafices...even small ones like not smoking for 9 months!!

Even edibles would be out of the quesion in my opinion as the same affect they have on you, they had on your unborn child.

Shame on you and your selfishness. Would you force your child to smoke right now? In 5 years? In 10? I bet you would let him/her smoke when they are old enough to make their own choices...and that would be ok in my book.

Be a drug user, don't be a drug pusher on those who don't have a choice in the matter.

If the hospital/doctors wanted to do something, they should have..and they would have been in the right! Just because you wanted to get high (for whatever reason) doesn't make it OK to get your child high.

Now, I'll sit back and take all the bashing you're prepared to give.

peace...

The bashing was all you... It's a hypocritical display of ignorance to be slamming people for their choice to smoke or not here. People are going to have their habits & their medications. Consuming cannabis has been shown to help people with a great many problems & discomforts - even those associated with pregnancy, for thousands of years. You don't really know what anybody's circumstances are or how you would manage in their shoes so who are you to judge a pregnant mother who self-medicates with cannabis as deserving of having her child stolen? It can aid the appetite in someone who otherwise can't eat. Can safely ease pain as well as nausea & vomiting (which can be dangerous to a pregnancy when excessive.) Drugs doctors have prescribed for the same thing have been shown to cause birth defects. Sounds like a much better alternative... should have taken that route to join one of the many class action lawsuits that crop up when yet another FDA approved poison has been shown to screw people over for life &/or kill them. :S

Anyway, children of mothers who consumed cannabis during pregnancy have a significantly reduced risk of infant mortality even over children of mothers who smoked nothing. It helps stimulate their appetites as well. It's been proven to have all manner of positive health benefits & you talk of selfishness. Have you bought into the hype of it being a dangerous drug, avid smoker? If you think it's so bad, maybe you should quit. Not everyone views it as you do. There are those who would brand you a criminal or even a terrorist for your personal choice to smoke, deserving imprisonment or even death. Doesn't make their beliefs sane. It's a medicinal herb with the added benefit of bringing a sense of well-being. How awful. People do a great many things that others may object to, but you should at least read up on the subject before you start flinging judgmental accusations of selfishness & rudeness at people. :/

peace

 

[VaporNation]

Congratulations! I'm glad to hear that you didn't have to face any issues upon giving birth. I've known plenty of women that have medicated during pregnancy and there were never any repercussions. It's a safe herb that aids with nausea and that's that.

 

[ChicagoJoe]

Thanks for the advice and well wishes!!!!

Ariah is at home and healthy as can be!! She and I both passed the drug sceen (even though I didn't smoke for 10 days) Child protective services never evn got envolved

Yaaaaay

great to hear everything went well.
the threats they gave you about taking the baby we just threats.

My wife had toked when she felt she needed some relief while she was pregnant with all 3 children. The latest kid is funny, articulate, has great balance, adventurous, learns fast, shows willingness to do things on her own and she's just coming up on 3.

 

[ChicagoJoe]

I'll preface this by saying I'm an avid smoker.

Why are you smoking anything while prego? Did you child ask you to smoke? Did you ask you child if it was ok to pollute their precious innocent body with your smoke?

I don't see how you can justify smoke of any kind? Sometimes in life YOU have to make sacrafices...even small ones like not smoking for 9 months!!

Even edibles would be out of the quesion in my opinion as the same affect they have on you, they had on your unborn child.

Shame on you and your selfishness. Would you force your child to smoke right now? In 5 years? In 10? I bet you would let him/her smoke when they are old enough to make their own choices...and that would be ok in my book.

Be a drug user, don't be a drug pusher on those who don't have a choice in the matter.

If the hospital/doctors wanted to do something, they should have..and they would have been in the right! Just because you wanted to get high (for whatever reason) doesn't make it OK to get your child high.

Now, I'll sit back and take all the bashing you're prepared to give.

peace...

sometimes you just have to chuckle at people ^^^^^^

 

[KatharsisAmok]

sometimes you just have to chuckle at people ^^^^^^

It'd be nice to be able to chuckle about it... Just disturbs me how many people have swallowed the bull & that it's even propagated by tokers. I feel like it's the responsibility of tokers & supporters of legalization to educate themselves as well as others to combat the propaganda that's so prevalent.

I just urge you to read up on this issue before you spew off complete and utter nonsence Panic. Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. However why not make it an educated one?

The simple fact of the matter is that smoking pot during your labor has zero long term lasting effects on mother or baby during the labor process.

I actually didn't see your post til after I originally posted this one, but I agree wholeheartedly. The arrogance that so many people judgementally direct towards cannabis users, particularly mothers, really bothers me & families shouldn't be victimized by the system because a parent tokes.

 

[DeadBodyLady]

To Panic-

lol in no way would i bash someone for sharing their thoughts however you dont know me and you dont know what hell i went through for the first 3 and a half months and the last 2 of my pregnancy I had massively high BP couldnt eat ANYTHING without throwing it up and was in constant pain. Is it right morally? no in some stand points but whats worse let the mom and baby possibly die (which i was told was a possibility with me not eating and the high bp) or smoke cannabis and be able to eat and actually rest like i was supposed to. Sorry i picked my baby's and my life over not smoking. My daughter is a month old today, brilliant as hell, awsome reflexes, eats very well and is (in my opinion) the best baby ever to grace the world.

 

[KatharsisAmok]

To Panic-

lol in no way would i bash someone for sharing their thoughts however you dont know me and you dont know what hell i went through for the first 3 and a half months and the last 2 of my pregnancy I had massively high BP couldnt eat ANYTHING without throwing it up and was in constant pain. Is it right morally? no in some stand points but whats worse let the mom and baby possibly die (which i was told was a possibility with me not eating and the high bp) or smoke cannabis and be able to eat and actually rest like i was supposed to. Sorry i picked my baby's and my life over not smoking. My daughter is a month old today, brilliant as hell, awsome reflexes, eats very well and is (in my opinion) the best baby ever to grace the world.

*Hugs* I feel that. I was so sick throughout that entire pregnancy in '03. I'm so glad things worked out well for you guys. ^_^ Mothers should never be forced to choose between medicine to protect themselves/their unborn babies & the gamble of having the state come after their families.

 

[2Tuff2sk8]

Just heard about a Jamaican study of children of heavy cannabis users - from what I heard, they found no adverse effects. In the United States, real studies still can't be done so we have no definitive information. In other places, pregnant women routinely have a glass of wine or whatever, moderation seems to work.

 

[TorturedSoul]

I have read the same study, and tend to agree with it.

Unfortunately, in this country, cannabis is still thought of by some to have unhealthy connotations. In addition to the difficulty in performing a scientifically useful study due to the current political climate... While many people who consume cannabis are fine people, many are not (just as can be said for people who eat chocolate ice cream, drive Chevrolet, et cetera). It is probable that many of the expecting mothers who come to the attention of medical personnel are not a representative sample. That could only unfairly skew the results of any informal studies/observations, much the way that walking into a meeting of Gamblers Annonymous and taking a survey to see if gambling is bad would.

Your mention of the Jamaican study does have me wondering about one thing. In Jamaica, access to cannabis is widespread and nobody seems to frown upon it. I do not believe that they even consider the relative age of the consumer in the same way that we (in general) do - although I could be wrong. I have read that some people are thought to have a cannabinoid deficiency. I have also read that many things that the expectant mother consumes - or, depending on the substance, fails to consume - during the pregnancy and especially during the first trimester can affect the development of the unborn child to one degree or another. What I'm wondering is whether or not the consumption of cannabis by a pregnant woman can cause this cannabinoid deficiency in the baby? Such a thing would not be as noticeable in Jamaica because of the widespread access to and acceptance of cannabis, so I would not expect the possible existence of such a thing to have affected the study one way or the other. But I'm curious.

On a (possibly) lighter note, if such is the case, and your mother caused you to go through life with a cannabinoid deficiency in your brain, would that be a valid reason for getting a medicinal cannabis license, lol?

 

[Lunatic Lumen]

don't be smokin' 2 much or u'll be pushing out a little jeff spicolli