Marijuana & Breastmilk

ALright putting aside the legality issue. Are you Not concerned with the long term effects this could have on your child?

Per the nursing mother companian

Marijuana, There are few reports of the effects of marijuana in breastfed babies. After a single use, marijuana levels in milk are apparently low, but the active component of the drug is fat-soluble and can build up in the body with chronic use. Because milk has a high fat content, marijuana levels are probobly high in cronic users. Note, too, that an infant in the same room with a smoker will breathe signifagant quantities of marijauna. Breastfed infants whose mothers use marijuana have shown delayed muscular development and coordination.

Per Anne Frye's Holistic Midwifery

Marijuana: THC the active ingrediant in marijuana, has a high affinity for lipids and accumulates in fatty tissue throughout the body, including the brain, Smoking marijuana exposes one to all the dangerous agents found in tobacco but in much higher concentrations. A single dose of cannibus in humans takes as long as 30 days to be excreted, with a half-life in tissues of about 7 days. Reguar use may be related to low birth weight babies.


Per my own research, Babies born to mothers whao have used marijuana. Have been shown to have 2 vessels in the umbilicus (cord) as opposed to the normal 3. Which can also be related to heart anomalies in some infants.
There is not alot of research, as most moms don't admit to using and the effects are not immediate shown as in withdraw from heroine or cocaine. There still can be effects of using marijuana that stick with your child forever. They may not show up until your child begins showing muscular development and coordination.

Using this drug for yourself is just that selfish. If you must be this selfish, use formacrap. As for any child needed muchies to eat. There are herbal appitite stimulants. Or milk production stimulants.

 

I have to ask the same. Nobody here said that they would smoke while pregnant or breast feeding. But I enjoy smoking right now and am not going to stop just because there's a microscopic chance that I could end up pregnant. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I can assure you that all potentially harmful activities would cease at least until I no longer had a child depending on my body.

 

i quit smoking when i was pregnant and now im nursing. I tried to smoke a few times but found that it made me insanely paranoid and i feel like i cant connect with my daughter while im high. i think that if other people can handle it it doesnt matter . i know our bodies naturally produce some amount of THC do it makes sense to me.

 

Most of this information is in another post on here somewhere. This topic comes up every few months.

I have 10 years experience working with drug addicted mothers and their drug exposed babies. I have studied the subject thoroughly. I have a degree in psychology which includes courses in how drugs effect the body and abnormal psychology and child development. Okay, that tells you my credentials. Now...

Marijuana will not in any way shape or form harm your baby once you get pregnant. Smoking, however, smoking any substance can lead to oxygenation problems for the baby. It can lead to clogged or as one person has suggested, missing veins in the umbilical cord. I don't care if you are smoking marijuana, tobacco, or french fries. Smoke harms.

As someone as already stated, if you are smoking in the same room as your baby, your baby is being exposed to second hand smoke. If you go outside to smoke and then come in and pick up your baby, the baby will breath in all the smoke still clinging to your clothes. If you can still smell it, the baby is being effected by it. If you want to smoke, anything, after you have your baby, come back in the house, change your clothes, and better yet, take a shower and wash your hair before you pick up the baby. Yeah, it's a lot of work, but worth it to not expose your baby's sensitive lungs to the smoke.

To the person who said that marijuana is no worse than alcohol, I don't know what planet you live on. Marijuana has NO effects of fetal development at all. The only problem caused by marijuana happens long before you get pregnant as it can cause the sperm to mutate which can make it difficult to get pregnant. Alcohol can and often does leave permanent life long problems for babies whose mothers drank while they were pregnant. I've seen babies born addicted to heroin. They will recover from 90% of the effects of the heroin by the time they are 5 years old. I've seen babies born addicted to cocaine. They also will recover by the the time they are 5 years old. I've seen babies with fetal alcohol syndrome. These babies will NEVER recover from the damage that was done. Now I know that you all know someone who drank every day of her pregnancy and the baby was not affected. I know people like that myself. I also know babies whose mother had no more than one drink and those babies have small brains, low set ears, webbed fingers and toes, close set eyes, the inability to make decisions, and numerous other problems. No one knows how much alcohol is too much for that baby on that day of the pregnancy.

The biggest and most serious problem that smoking marijuana has on your baby is that the medical profession can test you and your baby without your knowledge or permission. They don't tell you that they tested you until the social worker comes to take your baby away. If you even think you're pregnant, don't use ANY drug or herbs for that matter without talking to your doctor or health care professional first. THC is stored, as someone mentioned, in the fat cells of your body. A small person may test clean 2 to 3 weeks after smoking. A larger person could still test positive for up to 60 days after you stop smoking.

I personally, I love the herb. I wash with it, moisturize with it, wear clothes made of it, cook with it, decorate my house with it. Sew with it. I love it. The only thing I don't do with it is smoke it. I love my son and nothing will make me lose him. Certainly not a short term high. When you have kids, leave it alone. It's not worth the risk.

Kathi