CBD Oil And Pregnancy: Is It Safe For Pregnant Women To Consume CBD Products

Are you pregnant and want to use a CBD oil? Are you wondering if this is safe for you?

In general, CBD oils are safe but many claim that this is not safe for expectant women. This is particularly challenging for pregnant women who wish to take CBD oil while waiting for their bundle of joy due to an illness.

CBD oil is popular for the wonders it can bring to one’s health and lifestyle. It is very effective in alleviating pain, improving sleep, and addressing conditions like nausea, epilepsy and diabetes.

The big question is…. is it safe for pregnant women? You can find the answer here.

Is CBD Oil Safe for Pregnant Women?

I’ve heard mixed opinions about CBD oil’s safety for pregnant women. Others claim that expectant women should keep themselves away from this supplement, but moms who tried this when they were pregnant shared positive reviews about it.

In the next sections, you will see what expectant moms and experts say about CBD.

What Expectant Moms Say About CBD

Maggie Frank, a mom and a National Educator for PlusCBD Oil used CBD when she was pregnant in 2015. She learned that women used CBD oil during pregnancy to address a number of complaints including morning sickness, stress and anxiety, sleeplessness, food aversions, pains, cramps and more.

Frank was suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum or severe morning sickness that’s why she was looking for a solution to her condition. Due to her illness, she felt sick 20-30 times a day.

She felt that she was unable to nourish her baby and was almost always dehydrated. The prescribed medication had a slew of potential side effects so she refused it. But her condition worsened to the point that her doctor recommended for bed rest for four months.

When Frank started to take CBD oil, she was surprised at how it made her feel better almost immediately. She also experienced reduced stress and anxiety, better sleep, better mood, more patience and fewer aches and pain.

“It was like someone flipped off the switch that was making me feel sick at all times,” Frank said after using CBD. “I was once again able to move, sleep and eat without feeling the need to vomit. Even my over sensitivity to smells dissipated!”

Just like Frank, Jennifer Farris, a health coach, yoga instructor and mom, has positive CBD experience when she was still expecting her baby. She can attest to the benefits of CBD use during pregnancy. According to her, this helps with her anxiety.

“CBD oils noticeably reduced my anxiety during pregnancy and made it easy to fall asleep,” she told Parents.com. “They also helped lessen joint pain with all the changes in my body during pregnancy. I used Sunday Scaries CBD Gummies, and their products are third-party lab tested to ensure there are zero traces of THC.”

What Experts Say About CBD

Experts have mixed opinions about CBD and pregnancy. Felice Gersh, MD, ob-gyn and founder/director of the Integrative Medical Practice of Irvine corroborates the experts’ concern related to lack of data. She added that the production is poorly regulated in most states so she advises pregnant women to avoid using CBD.

According to James J Harper, CBD is a very safe alternative to many medications and substances including pain, depression, anxiety and stress. However, it’s different when a woman is pregnant.

When one is pregnant, her body goes through all sorts of major hormonal changes and developing a baby is delicate and vulnerable.

Dr. Janice Knox, MD, MBA, a retired anesthesiologist who now runs a cannabinoid-focused medical practice in Portland with her husband and two daughters, believes that a low dose of CBD could be helpful in multivitamins, but she still doesn’t recommend this during pregnancy.

“The conversation between the embryo and the mother’s uterus is just too complicated, and there is not enough research to prove efficacy in vivo,” Knox said.

Cambria Benson founder of Serra, a modern druggist in Portland, Oregon, modified her cannabis use during pregnancy. According to her, she only uses CBD to deal with extreme nausea or sleep deprivation. However, she knows plenty of women who still shop a range of products at Serra but they don’t judge because this is a personal choice.

Meanwhile, another professional shared how CBD helped her patient. According to Marissa Fratoni, RN, the director of wellness for CannaMommy, she had a patient suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) and CBD helped.

“One of my patients was recently admitted to the hospital due to hyperemesis gravidarum, or HG,” Fratoni said.

“She was told she needed IV fluids and a feeding tube in order to stay in her pregnancy. She tried cannabis [instead], and it helped.”

Due to the lack of data and studies to support the positive claims of CBD to pregnancy, experts do not recommend CBD. However, some experts say that cannabidiol really helps with some pregnant women, so if you are really interested, it is recommended that you work with your doctor before using this as an alternative medicine because it might not be safe for a pregnant woman.

CBD Oil and Pregnancy Research

There are a number of studies about pregnancy and CBD oil.  So, if you want concrete information whether you should get CBD oil or not while you wait for your due date, check these out.

Study 1: Pregnant Women with Low FAAH activity

According to this study, cannabinoids may retard the development of embryos and eventually lead to fetal loss and pregnancy failure. Anandamide levels in the uterus are regulated by FAAH activity.

Accordingly, pregnant women with low FAAH activity in lymphocytes were found to have an increased incidence of miscarriage, and low FAAH activity also correlated with failure to maintain a pregnancy after in vitro fertilization.

Study 2: Early cannabinoid exposure on male mice during prenatal

According to this study, maternal exposure to delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a major psychoactive constituent in marijuana or the non-psychoactive cannabinol (CBN) or cannabidiol (CBD) alters the endocrine functions and concentrations of brain biogenic amines in their male offspring.

A single prenatal exposure to psychoactive or non-psychoactive components of marijuana results in long term alterations in the function of the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis. Changes in the concentrations of brain biogenic amines may be related to these effects of prenatal cannabinoids on endocrine function in adult male mice.

Study 3: Ottawa Prenatal Prospective Study

The researchers study the effects of marijuana used during pregnancy since 1978. The results suggest that in the neonatal, state alteration and altered visual responsiveness may be associated with in utero exposure to marijuana. There is appearance absence of effect during early childhood.

However, domains associated with prenatal marijuana exposure at four years of age and older included increased behavioral problems, decreased performance on visual perceptual tasks, language comprehension, sustained attention and memory.

The nature and the timing of the appearance of these deficits are congruent with the notion of prenatal marijuana exposure affecting ‘executive functioning’ — goal-directed behavior that includes planning, organized search, and impulse control.

Conclusion

There is a mixed opinion about CBD oil and pregnancy. Experts don’t usually recommend this but there are a number of moms who tried it and were happy and satisfied with the results.

It still needs more study to support the claims that CBD oil is really safe for pregnant women. However, if you really need to take CBD oil during your pregnancy, it’s best if you check with your doctor.

If you need to learn more about CBD oil, its benefits, results and how it works in addressing a variety of health condition check out our homepage.

References

www.royalqueenseeds.com/blog-is-it-safe-to-consume-cbd-products-during-pregnancy-n812
www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/medical/can-babies.htm
www.therecoveryvillage.com/cbd-addiction/cbd-while-pregnant/#gref
www.parents.com/pregnancy/everything-pregnancy/cbd-oil-for-pregnancy-how-moms-are-using-it
www.quora.com/Is-CBD-oil-safe-in-pregnancy
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2241751
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6320227
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7539879
www.green-flower.com/articles/956/is-cbd-safe-during-pregnancy