Neurotoxicologyand Teratology,Vol. 13, pp. 329-334.© Pergamon Press plc, 1991. Printed in the U.S.A.
0892-0362/91 $3.00 + .00
Prenatal Marijuana Use and Neonatal Outcome NANCY DAY,1 USHA SAMBAMOORTHI, PAUL TAYLOR, GALE RICHARDSON, NADINE ROBLES, YOUNG JHON, MARK SCHER, DAVID STOFFER, MARIE CORNELIUS AND DORCIE JASPERSE
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Departments of Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Neurology and University of Pittsburgh Department of Mathematical Statistics R e c e i v e d 22 O c t o b e r 1990
DAY, N., U. SAMBAMOORTHI, P. TAYLOR, G. RICHARDSON, N. ROBLES, Y. JHON, M. SCHER, D. STOFFER, M. CORNELIUS AND D. JASPERSE. Prenatalmarijuana use and neonatal outcome. NEUROTOXICOL TERATOL 13(3) 329-334, 1991.--In a longitudinal study of marijuana and other substance use during pregnancy, women were interviewed at each trimester of pregnancy. Growth parameters, morphological abnormalities and gestational age were assessed for the 519 livebom singletons. There were few significant effects of marijuana use during pregnancy on birth weight, head or chest circumference, gestational age, or growth retardation after adjustment for covariates using a regression model for analysis. There was a small but significant negative effect of marijuana use during the first two months of pregnancy on birth length and a positive effect of marijuana use during the third trimester on birth weight. Birth weight
Marijuana
Fetal growth retardation
Infant
THE most frequent age of marijuana use for women is also the age of childbearing. Fifty percent of 18- to 35-year-old women reported using marijuana at least once, and 8% reported using marijuana a minimum of 10 out of the past 30 days (3). However, surprisingly little is known about the teratogenic effects of marijuana use and the few reports in the literature have been conflicting (6). Several studies found no effect of marijuana use during pregnancy on neonatal growth and no increase in the risk of morphological abnormalities (22,24), other studies reported that infants exposed to marijuana were smaller or had more minor physical anomalies (17,19), while another detected an effect of marijuana on birth length (28). Fried et al. (14) found a linear association between decreased length of gestation and marijuana use, although they did not report a higher rate of prematurity (defined as
0892-0362/91 $3.00 + .00
Prenatal Marijuana Use and Neonatal Outcome NANCY DAY,1 USHA SAMBAMOORTHI, PAUL TAYLOR, GALE RICHARDSON, NADINE ROBLES, YOUNG JHON, MARK SCHER, DAVID STOFFER, MARIE CORNELIUS AND DORCIE JASPERSE
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Departments of Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Neurology and University of Pittsburgh Department of Mathematical Statistics R e c e i v e d 22 O c t o b e r 1990
DAY, N., U. SAMBAMOORTHI, P. TAYLOR, G. RICHARDSON, N. ROBLES, Y. JHON, M. SCHER, D. STOFFER, M. CORNELIUS AND D. JASPERSE. Prenatalmarijuana use and neonatal outcome. NEUROTOXICOL TERATOL 13(3) 329-334, 1991.--In a longitudinal study of marijuana and other substance use during pregnancy, women were interviewed at each trimester of pregnancy. Growth parameters, morphological abnormalities and gestational age were assessed for the 519 livebom singletons. There were few significant effects of marijuana use during pregnancy on birth weight, head or chest circumference, gestational age, or growth retardation after adjustment for covariates using a regression model for analysis. There was a small but significant negative effect of marijuana use during the first two months of pregnancy on birth length and a positive effect of marijuana use during the third trimester on birth weight. Birth weight
Marijuana
Fetal growth retardation
Infant
THE most frequent age of marijuana use for women is also the age of childbearing. Fifty percent of 18- to 35-year-old women reported using marijuana at least once, and 8% reported using marijuana a minimum of 10 out of the past 30 days (3). However, surprisingly little is known about the teratogenic effects of marijuana use and the few reports in the literature have been conflicting (6). Several studies found no effect of marijuana use during pregnancy on neonatal growth and no increase in the risk of morphological abnormalities (22,24), other studies reported that infants exposed to marijuana were smaller or had more minor physical anomalies (17,19), while another detected an effect of marijuana on birth length (28). Fried et al. (14) found a linear association between decreased length of gestation and marijuana use, although they did not report a higher rate of prematurity (defined as
