Association between marijuana use and adverse obstetrical and neonatal outcomes

Area of Science:

• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Neonatal Health
• Reproductive Toxicology

Background:

• Maternal marijuana use during pregnancy is a growing public health concern.
• Understanding the specific risks associated with prenatal cannabis exposure is crucial for clinical guidance.
• Previous studies have yielded conflicting results, necessitating further investigation with careful stratification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between maternal marijuana use and adverse obstetrical and neonatal outcomes.
• To exclude outcomes in women with polysubstance abuse.
• To stratify findings based on concurrent maternal tobacco use.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study design.
• Inclusion of 6468 women (6107 nonusers, 361 marijuana users).
• Logistic regression analysis adjusted for maternal age, race, parity, BMI, and prenatal care, stratified by tobacco use.

Main Results:

• Marijuana use was associated with increased rates of small for gestational age (aOR 1.30) and neonatal intensive care unit admission (aOR 1.54) in non-tobacco users.
• No significant increase in preterm delivery or fetal anomalies was observed with maternal marijuana use.
• Adjusted analyses controlled for key demographic and clinical factors.

Conclusions:

• Maternal marijuana use, independent of tobacco use, is not associated with increased risk of most adverse obstetrical outcomes or fetal anomalies.
• Prenatal cannabis exposure is linked to a higher likelihood of delivering a small for gestational age infant and requiring neonatal intensive care unit admission.
• These findings highlight specific neonatal risks associated with marijuana use during pregnancy.