Breastfeeding And Pot Smoking

There's no question that attitudes about marijuana use are changing due to increased accessibility to medicinal and recreational cannabis, and a general disinterest in the subject from the federal government. So I assumed that there would be a lot of debate surrounding pot smoking and pregnancy, nursing and parenting.

I was correct on two fronts. I have come across a lot of interesting information and opinions about smoking pot during pregnancy and/or as a parent. Brave souls (like Kiri Westby and Toni Nagy via the Huffington Post) started the public discussion about responsible parenting and recreational marijuana a couple of years ago.

But it's been very challenging to find any conclusive information about the potential effects of marijuana use on a breastfeeding mom and/or her baby. Everyone agrees that trace amounts of THC may or do make their way into breast milk. But more research is needed to determine the potential impact on a nursing baby.

The most comprehensive and well-researched essay I found is this one from The Cannabist. The Cannabist article cites another article from the Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey* to explain the public stance of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on marijuana and breastfeeding:

Because breastfeeding can mitigate some of the effects of smoking and little evidence of serious infant harm has been seen, it appears preferable to encourage mothers who use marijuana to continue breastfeeding while minimizing infant exposure to marijuana smoke and reducing marijuana use.

But even with this somewhat lax statement from NIH, The Cannabist article advocates abstinence during nursing due to a lack of available research. The magazine's editorial staff is reporting responsibly as the that the actual effects of breastfeeding with marijuana in your system are still unknown.

I think there exists a case study of sorts that can help us actually understand the real risks of marijuana and breastfeeding. I'd like to know... what happened to Crystal Cain of Oregon?

Crystal Cain is the Oregon mom who under the care of a midwife smoked marijuana while pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl, about 8 weeks prior to her due date, in the summer of 2014. Whether smoking while pregnant had any bearing on the baby's early birth is unknown. She said she planned to continue using medical marijuana and breastfeed once she brought the baby home. She uses medical marijuana to help combat anxiety and depression. The doctors at the hospital advised her against breastfeeding; however, because of marijuana's legal status in Oregon they couldn't prevent her from breastfeeding. So the hospital asked her to sign a waiver acknowledging the potential risks. She signed it and took her baby home.

Presumably, she began breastfeeding and I hope it went well. The most recent article I can find on the subject is from October 2014. Every article I've been able to get my hands on is about releasing Cain from the hospital after signing the waiver.

The waiver seems to be the only piece of the story deemed newsworthy; whether or not the controversial waiver had an impact on the mom or baby is the real news in my book. And I'd like to know what happened, and whether this mom's intuition was right. I can't find anything about whether she successfully nursed her daughter, and if there were any side effects she can attribute to her use of marijuana while nursing.

So what happened? I've been leaving that very question in the comments section of every article I come across. Hopefully, we'll find out. I'd love to ask Cain about what happened if I can find her.


*I haven't actually read the Survey first-hand. I assume The Cannabist fact-checked.