Prenatal Cannabis Exposure Linked to Preterm Births, Low Birth Weight, and NICU Admissions – A Must-Read for Expecting Mothers!”

A recent study conducted by Prenatal Cannabis researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the University of Toronto reveals that infants exposed to cannabis during pregnancy face an elevated risk of being born preterm, having a low birth weight, and necessitating neonatal intensive care, compared to infants without prenatal cannabis exposure. The findings, published in the journal Addiction, also indicate that infants exposed to cannabis in utero do not exhibit a higher likelihood of experiencing birth defects or mortality within the first year, including sudden unexpected infant death.

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The lead author of the study, Maryam Sorkhou, a PhD student at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s Institute of Medical Science, notes the global uptick in cannabis use among women of reproductive age, extending to pregnant women. Sorkhou highlights the ability of THC, the primary psychoactive component in cannabis, to traverse the placenta and bind to receptors in the fetal brain.

Prenatal Cannabis

Collaborating with Tony George, a clinician-scientist at CAMH and a professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s department of psychiatry and Institute of Medical Science, the researchers analyzed data from 57 prior studies worldwide conducted between 1984 and 2023. The combined outcomes encompassed health data from over 12 million infants, including more than 102,000 exposed to cannabis before birth.

Among the key findings, the study revealed that mothers using cannabis during pregnancy were more than one and a half times likely to experience preterm delivery compared to non-cannabis-using counterparts. Additionally, the risk of delivering a low-birth-weight baby was more than twice as high for mothers using cannabis during pregnancy, as indicated by the combined results of 18 studies. Furthermore, infants with intrauterine cannabis exposure were more than twice as likely to require neonatal intensive care admission than those without exposure, as demonstrated by the combined results of ten studies.

Prenatal Cannabis Sorkhou emphasizes that this study contributes to the existing knowledge by highlighting the increased risk of various adverse birth outcomes associated with prenatal exposure to cannabis.