bad news for expectant mothers who turn to marijuana to treat morning sickness.
new research suggests that using cannabis while pregnant may increase your child’s risk of developing psychotic-like behaviour.
researchers from washington university
looked at data collected by the adolescent brain and cognitive development (abcd) study, a health database of 11,875 children, parents’ health information, and pregnancy data. of this sample set, 655 children were found to have been exposed to cannabis prenatally.
compared to children whose mothers had no exposure to cannabis, use of these products while pregnant was correlated with greater behavioural concerns in the developing child — such as psychotic-like experiences; attention, thought, and social challenges, greater sleep problems, greater body mass index (bmi), lower cognition and less grey matter (regions that have
high concentrations of neurons or brain cells
).
cannabis already shown to affect a developing child
the psychoactive component of cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (thc), is able to cross the placenta where it may interfere with the developing brain of the fetus. scientists are not sure exactly how the active ingredients in marijuana affect the developing fetus, but
previous studies
have linked its presence to a greater risk of the baby being born prematurely or at a lower weight.