According to a new study, co-led by researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University, marijuana use is rising during pregnancy.
The study has captured the magnitude and issues related to cannabis use disorders during pregnancy by examining diagnostic codes for more than 20 million U.S. hospital discharges. Most of those hospitalizations were for childbirth.
The study called “Association of Comorbid Behavioral and Medical Conditions with Cannabis Use Disorder in Pregnancy,” was published Nov. 3 in JAMA Psychiatry.
It found that the proportion of hospitalized pregnant patients identified with cannabis use disorder – defined as cannabis use with clinically significant impairment or distress – rose 150% from 2010 to 2018.
“This is the largest study to document the scale of cannabis use disorder in prenatal hospitalizations,” remarked Claudia Lugo-Candelas, assistant professor of clinical medical psychology in Columbia’s Department of Psychiatry and one of the study’s co-authors.
The study found that pregnant patients with the condition had sharply higher levels of depression, anxiety and nausea – results warranting clinical concern.
“It’s a red flag that patients may not be getting the treatment they need,” said Lugo-Candelas.
The study identified 249,084 hospitalized pregnant patients with cannabis use disorder and classified them into three sub-groups: those with cannabis use disorder only; those with use disorders for cannabis and other substances, including at least one controlled substance; and those with cannabis use disorder and other substances (alcohol, tobacco) not related to controlled substances.
Data from hospitalized pregnant patients without any substance use disorders were analyzed for comparison.
