It is known that marijuana and pregnancy shouldn’t be present in the same time. Although it shouldn’t be used as a means of contraception, it is said that the couples smoking marijuana aren’t very likely to be able to conceive a child. This is because it can reduce the sperm count.
Being pregnant and smoking marijuana
The illegal substance is able to lower the ability of sperm to fertilize the egg. This is something to think about in case someone is wishing to become a father. There are a lot of studies conducted regarding cannabis and fertility. Some specialists say that its use decreases the sexual libido of people.
Also in case you are pregnant and smoking marijuana you should know that it could also cause abnormalities regarding the hormonal cycles of a woman. According to the studies conducted on animals, marijuana decreases the chances of spontaneous miscarriage.
This is true regarding marijuana and pregnancy but only in case the substance is used in large doses, in given stages of the pregnancy and only in case of certain animal species. Since the pregnancy of animals is pretty different from human pregnancy, the results of these studies are not relevant for humans.
Studies on humans
The research that has been done in case of women who were pregnant and smoking marijuana was compared to the researches regarding women who did not use substance. The data that the doctors compared included weight, length, head and chest circumference, neurological development, gestational age and physical abnormalities.
The majority of the studies regarding marijuana and pregnancy, including the largest ones, show that there is no difference between the babies of marijuana smoking women and those who don’t smoke marijuana. Since there have been so many studies, some of them reached contradictory results.
While in some cases the children of women who were pregnant and smoking marijuana were healthier than the other children, in other cases the result was the opposite.
Adverse outcomes regarding marijuana and pregnancy
In case there are some complications due to the substance, in the majority they are minor and they don’t cause fatality to the children. For instance according to one of the latest studies, there is a difference when it comes to birth length.
In case of women who were pregnant and smoking marijuana their babies seemed to be 2-3 inches shorter than the babies who were exposed to the substance. Another study of this kind has found that the birth weight of the exposed babies was smaller than in case of the other babies.
There has been a third study conducted regarding marijuana and pregnancy and this has shown that the substance has an effect on the gestational age. Nonetheless according to these studies the substance doesn’t have negative effects on the health of the babies.
Older children
In order to make the studies of women being pregnant and smoking marijuana, they also expanded the studies to include older children. When working with babies, there were no differences in their behavior, sleeping patterns, personality, health, personality, eating habits, or physical development.
Studies regarding the topic have also been conducted in case of even older children and teenagers. Just as in the previous case, in this case there weren’t big differences either. Nonetheless when working with African – American children the researchers have found minor differences regarding the IQ levels.
When it comes to marijuana and pregnancy the scientists also tested for different health conditions, such as cancer and leukemia. While in some cases the risks of diseases increased (like leukemia), in other cases there weren’t any observed differences at all.
