According to a Canadian study, consuming cannabis when you are pregnant leads to a reduction in the weight of the baby at birth and a decrease of more than 20% in the growth of the brain and liver.
When they are pregnant, women must pay particular attention to what they consume to ensure the good health of their future child. Beyond the recommendations in terms of food, it is therefore necessary to pay attention to the medications that one takes and to proscribe any consumption of alcohol or drugs.
Yet, despite recommendations and warnings, one in five pregnant women continue to smoke cannabis. This is particularly the case for those suffering from morning sickness or anxiety. But this self-medication is not without risk for the health of the fetus.
This is shown by a new study from the University of Western Ontario (Canada) and published in Scientific Reports. According to its authors, regular exposure to THC, the main psychoactive component of cannabis during pregnancy, has important consequences on the development of the organs of the fetus and on the expression of genes essential for placental function.
Slowed brain growth
To reach this conclusion, the researchers conducted a study with pregnant female rats, which they regularly exposed to a low dose of THC. The latter corresponds to daily consumption of cannabis during pregnancy.
They then found that this daily consumption led to a reduction in birth weight of 8% and a decrease in brain and liver growth by more than 20%.
“These data support clinical studies that suggest that cannabis use during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight babies,” says Professor Dan Hardy, co-author of the study. This is the first study that definitively supports the fact that THC alone has a direct influence on placental and fetal growth,” says the researcher.
Poor placental transfer of nutrients
Researchers were also able to study how THC prevents oxygen and nutrients from crossing the placenta to reach the developing fetus. By analyzing human placental cells, they discovered that exposure to THC led to a decrease in the glucose transporter called GLUT-1. This means that THC prevents the placental transfer of glucose, a key nutrient, from mother to fetus. They also found reduced placental vascularization in the rats, suggesting reduced blood flow from mother to fetus. These two factors, they say, likely contribute to the poorer growth of babies whose mothers used cannabis during pregnancy.
For the researchers, it is essential that countries adopt a public health policy aimed at pregnant women to warn them of the dangers of cannabis use during pregnancy.
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