Using Marijuana While Breastfeeding

[Chronic Chrissy]

Here's a question to ask yourself. How long is THC reactive in your body? And how long does it take for milk to be produced, which by the way comes from mostly fat reserves? By the time your milk is made the THC has already reacted in your body long ago and the reason why the child may test positive is because non-reactive fragments are past on, not reactive THC. I'm not ignorant, just well informed. If I believed my child was in any danger or at a health risk I wouldn't do it. I use herbs to treat everything while pregnant and breastfeeding, and marijuana is just another herb safer than the prescriptions I would be on. I mean come on I eat my own placenta to ward off post partum depression.

What would you rather stomach? a joint, or a chunk of raw placenta smoothy? Point made.

[Islandborn]

Women and people in general can choose to raise their child anyway theu want....but be prepared for some disgusted looks while breastfeeding a walking and talking 2 year old child. But hey....this is America....

[Islandborn]

and arent you ready for a full night sleep? We switched to Infamile AR premixed formula at 6 months and it was the BEST thing we did.....boy slept better than he EVER did with breastmilk.....and is bigger now than some 2 year olds...not fat wise...just a big kid....im beamin

[bazzledai]

I do not agree with women who are pregnant or breast feeding consuming cannabis .
Even if some claim the risk is minimal why would you take any risks with a child ?
I do not believe it is harmless.
IMO anyone who tokes whilst pregnant or breastfeeding is being completely selfish.

As for the idea that there are two distinct types of users I would have to say that I strongly disagree that cannabis is in any way a "gateway" drug , this is a goverment argument that is used to demonise cannabis. The "type" of users is as varied as thier reasons for using and that's as varied as the human race is.

For you to say that anyone who tokes whilst pregnant or breastfeeding is being completely selfish is pretty narrow minded thing to say. FYI in my situation I was so sick that with in the first 4 weeks i lost over 30 lbs and was hospitalized 2 times for dehydration. If it wasnt for smoking I would not have been able to hold any food down or have an appetite. As a matter of fact I was told many years ago that i would not be able to carry a baby because of several health problems and if it wasnt for me smoking marijuana I would have lost my child.

[Toastyroadie]

An interesting read, thanks Granny Storm Crow, got herb?...:stoned:


Jun-27-2010 02:00
Cannabis Reduces Infant Mortality
Storm Crow for Salem-News.com
Surprising connections between "Failure-to-Thrive" and Cannabinoids.


Image from a story about the Use Of Non-Psychoactive Cannabinoids In The Treatment Of Neurodegenerative Diseases from Science Daily

(NORTHERN CALIFORNIA) - Years ago, a friend of mine, a good Christian lady, had a child with "failure to thrive". She had CPS all over her, looking for even the tiniest trace of child neglect. They found none. The child was well cared for, but she just didn't seem that interested in eating. Her bottles often went half finished.

I believe that those bottles of formula, given from birth, were major part of the problem. Our bodies make chemicals called "endocannabinoids" that are closely related to THC and cannabidiol (CBD). Endocannabinoids control many bodily functions and are excreted into breast milk. When lactating female rabbits were injected with CBD, a non-psychoactive, plant-derived cannabinoid, there was "a significant accumulation of the drug in milk." [1]

Endocannabinoids are also detected in human and cow's milk, with the highest levels occurring the day after giving birth. This healthy dose of naturally-occurring endocannabinoids stimulates the suckling reflex in newborn mammals, including humans[2].

When newborn mice are given a chemical to block the effect between endocannabinoids and their CB receptors, the mice simply don't know how to eat. Yet, if the blocking agent is mixed with an equivalent amount of THC, the mice eat and grow normally[3].

CB receptors work kind of like an ignition switch. First, you need the right kind of "key" (the right-shaped cannabinoid) to go into the "keyhole" (the receptor) to turn on the "engine's" action (suckling, stopping pain or inflammation, or maybe killing a cancer cell). Phytocannabinoids (cannabinoids from plants, like THC) can mimic the effects of your endocannabinoids - they can turn on the same "ignition switches" as your body's own cannabinoids. The blocking agents (antagonists) are like sticking a broken key stub in the keyhole. You can't get a real key in, and the engine can't turn on.

Scientists have bred mice that do not have CB receptors. They are poor, sickly things, prone to all sorts of ailments. Some scientists believe that there are people like those mice, having fewer than normal, or dysfunctional, CB receptors. And infants born with this condition have growth failure resulting from an inability to ingest food, just like those newborn mice[4].)

If "failure to thrive" infants were being breast-fed, they would get at least some of their mother's normal endocannabinoids from her milk. If she were using cannabis, logically, her breast milk would contain not only her own endocannabinoids, but also the phytocannabinoids, THC and CBD. In CB receptor-deficient children, an extra dose of phytocannabinoids could make the difference between "failure to thrive" and a healthy child! However, since receptor deficiency is inheritable, the mother may be deficient, too, and unable to give her child sufficient amounts of endocannabinoids in her milk.




But all this is just conjecture on my part. Just me, grouping together various studies to make a theory about "failure to thrive" babies. Medical science surely isn't going to say that having Mom smoking a little pot in the evening is going to help her baby do better, is it?

Well, tonight, I found a study that seems to say just that! It's a sad little thing - an abstract of a study on the death of babies - yet vital facts can be learned from those soulless statistical studies. This one gave the infant death rates per 1,000 live births, and the drugs, if any, that the mother used during pregnancy.

A total of 2,964 babies were drug-tested at birth to see if they were positive for drugs - cocaine, opioids or cannabis were studied. 44% of the infants tested positive for all varieties of drugs, including the 3 being studied. During the first two years of their lives, 44 babies from the original group died. Since statistics are a drag to slog through, I'll cut right to the chase - the deaths per thousand live births - the numbers tell the story.

"No drugs at birth" deaths....... 15.7 deaths per 1000 live births

"Cocaine positive" deaths.......17.7 deaths per 1000 live births

"Opiate positive" deaths.......18.4 deaths per 1000 live births

"Cannabis positive" deaths.... 8.9 deaths per 1000 live births [5]

The cocaine and opiate babies have a higher death rate than the "No drugs" babies - that was to be expected. But look at the "cannabis" babies! Having extra cannabinoids in their bodies at birth (and likely later, from 2nd-hand exposure, or breast milk) seems to have some sort of a protective effect. The "cannabis" infants have a mortality rate almost half of what the "No drugs" infants have!

Cannabis has a remarkable safety record - it has never caused a single death by overdose, so it is safer than the Tylenol that we give to our children. Some cannabinoids, like CBD, can't get you high no matter how much you take, but are still quite effective medically. Perhaps it is time that someone considers doing a study of pediatric, non-psychoactive cannabinoid use to treat "failure to thrive" infants!

The studies below, and more, will appear in the new version of my list of medical cannabis studies and articles. It will be available around the beginning of August. For now, you can get a free copy of my current list (250 pages of MMJ links like those below), by emailing me at: [email protected].

[1] Mammary excretion of cannabidiol in rabbits after intravenous administration - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

[2] Born with the munchies - newscientist.com/

[3] Critical role of the endogenous cannabinoid system in mouse pup suckling and growth - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

[4] The endocannabinoid-CB receptor system: Importance for development and in pediatric disease - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

[5] Mortality Within the First 2 Years in Infants Exposed to Cocaine, Opiate, or Cannabinoid During Gestation - pediatrics.aappublications.org






Cannabis Reduces Infant Mortality - Salem-News.Com

[medicalmomma]

I agree a even a pot smoking mom has better milk than any formula....

"Human milk expressed by mothers who have been lactating for >1 year has significantly increased fat and energy contents, compared with milk expressed by women who have been lactating for shorter periods. During prolonged lactation, the fat energy contribution of breast milk to the infant diet might be significant."
-- Mandel 2005

"Breast milk continues to provide substantial amounts of key nutrients well beyond the first year of life, especially protein, fat, and most vitamins."
-- Dewey 2001

In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:
29% of energy requirements
43% of protein requirements
36% of calcium requirements
75% of vitamin A requirements
76% of folate requirements
94% of vitamin B12 requirements
60% of vitamin C requirements
-- Dewey 2001

Nursing toddlers between the ages of 16 and 30 months have been found to have fewer illnesses and illnesses of shorter duration than their non-nursing peers (Gulick 1986).

"Antibodies are abundant in human milk throughout lactation" (Nutrition During Lactation 1991; p. 134). In fact, some of the immune factors in breastmilk increase in concentration during the second year and also during the weaning process. (Goldman 1983, Goldman & Goldblum 1983, Institute of Medicine 1991).

Per the World Health Organization, "a modest increase in breastfeeding rates could prevent up to 10% of all deaths of children under five: Breastfeeding plays an essential and sometimes underestimated role in the treatment and prevention of childhood illness."

Extensive research on the relationship between cognitive achievement (IQ scores, grades in school) and breastfeeding has shown the greatest gains for those children breastfed the longest.

A US Surgeon General has stated that it is a lucky baby who continues to nurse until age two. (Novello 1990)

The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of nursing up to two years of age or beyond (WHO 1993, WHO 2002).

Extended nursing delays the return of fertility in some women by suppressing ovulation (References).

Breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer For the Mother. Studies have found a significant inverse association between duration of lactation and breast cancer risk.

Breastfeeding reduces the risk of ovarian cancer for the mom(References).

Breastfeeding reduces the risk of uterine cancer for the mother(References).

Breastfeeding reduces the risk of endometrial cancer for the mother(References).

FAT CONTENT OF INFANT/TODDLER FOOD
Calories (per ounce) / Fat (per ounce)
human milk 22 (average)â?*/ 1.2 (average)â?*
infant formula 20 / 1.06
cow milk (whole) 19 / 1.00

Refrences
KellyMom
LLLI

[AnnIta]

Women and people in general can choose to raise their child anyway theu want....but be prepared for some disgusted looks while breastfeeding a walking and talking 2 year old child. But hey....this is America....

Well, if we lived in a society where people actually knew what was what, instead of just reacting to things, there's a chance you would be the one getting disgusted looks for switching to formula when your baby was only 6 months old.
But, like you pointed out, this is amerika.

[Islandborn]

breatfeeding a walking and talking child is pretty hilarious and funny......talk about a parent not letting go.......they SHOULD be stared at everywhere they go if they are doing it in public, my boy is 2 and doesn't have a binky or use a bottle anymore. Ya know.....cause he is TWO and can drink out of a regular cup now.

Breastfeeding a walking and talking child......that mental picture in soooooo funny. Poor kid.

For all these studies there is another one that contradicts it. Breastfeed your kid till he is 10 if you want.....but you should expect the muffled whispers and outright mocking you will recieve. And if your breatfeeding a 2 year old AND smoking weed......you could be charged with a crime and have your children taken from you.