Docs Should Discourage Pot During Pregnancy

http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20150622/doctors-should-urge-against-pot-use-during-pregnancy-guidelines

WebMD News from HealthDay
By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors should discourage women from using marijuana during pregnancy, due to the potential effects that pot's active ingredients can have on a child's brain development, new guidelines state.

The recommendation was released Monday by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

"When you look at the evidence, it leads us to use caution in marijuana use during pregnancy," said Dr. Jeffrey Ecker, chair of the AGOG Committee on Obstetric Practice. "For women who are pregnant or thinking about being pregnant, we would encourage them to discontinue using marijuana."

Ecker is also director of obstetrical clinical research and quality assurance at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Studies show that children exposed to marijuana in the womb have lower scores on tests of visual problem-solving, visual and motor coordination and visual analysis, compared with kids not exposed to pot, the report states.

Prenatal marijuana exposure also has been associated with decreased attention span and behavioral problems.

"We think that it causes some changes in the development of the brain, and can cause long-term behavioral problems in children," said Dr. Katrina Mark, an OB-GYN instructor at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug during pregnancy, with roughly half of female marijuana users continuing to use during pregnancy, the ACOG committee said in its new opinion.

Self-reported prevalence of marijuana use during pregnancy ranges from 2 percent to 5 percent, but increases to between 15 percent and 28 percent among young urban women who are struggling economically, the committee said.

•••••

The ingredient in pot that causes intoxication, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), has been shown in animal tests to easily cross the placenta and get into the bloodstream of a developing fetus, the ACOG committee report said.

Besides potentially affecting a child's brain development, exposure to marijuana in the womb also might make the child more susceptible to using the drug themselves when they grow up, the report added.

•••••

However, the opinion also emphasized that women who report they are using marijuana while they are pregnant should be treated and counseled, not reported to the authorities for punishment or prosecution.

•••••

"Ultimately, treating cannabis like other legal, regulated substances means, in certain circumstances, discouraging its use among certain populations," Armentano said. "Society makes such distinctions often, particularly in regard to the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, and no doubt one can argue that such distinctions also ought to be made for cannabis when the available evidence supports doing so."

Women who are using marijuana to deal with morning sickness or other symptoms of pregnancy can be given other drugs that will deal with those symptoms just as effectively, Ecker and Mark said.

"If they're using it for nausea, I offer them alternative treatments that have been studied and proven to be safe," Mark said of her patients. "Marijuana is not the only medication we have available to treat these symptoms."