An OB Addiction Specialist Explains Why Marijuana Is Not Benign In PregnancyAn OB Addiction Specialist Explains Why Marijuana Is Not Benign In Pregnancy
Addiction Medicine Made Easy
Emergency physician Dr Casey Grover talks with OB-GYN and addiction specialist Dr Nazanin Amadieh about how modern high‑potency cannabis can affect pregnancy, birth, and early childhood. They discuss current evidence, practical counselling tips, and the realities faced by pregnant patients using cannabis, all in a stigma‑free and approachable way.
34:36•13 Apr 2026
Why Cannabis in Pregnancy Isn’t Harmless: An OB Addiction Specialist’s Take
Episode Overview
- Modern cannabis products are far stronger than past versions, and legality does not equal safety in pregnancy.
- THC crosses the placenta early, interacts with fetal brain development, and may affect implantation and placenta formation.
- Cannabis use in pregnancy is linked with low birth weight and increased NICU admissions, even though clear malformations have not been identified.
- Cannabinoid hyperemesis can mimic or worsen pregnancy sickness, and simple tools like the “hot shower test” can help distinguish it.
- Breastfeeding while using cannabis can expose the baby to THC for days, and many mothers who quit during pregnancy return to use in the postpartum period.
“Being legal in a lot of states doesn’t mean it’s safe.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol or drugs during one of the most vulnerable times of their life – pregnancy? This conversation between emergency physician–turned–addiction specialist Dr Casey Grover and OB-GYN/addiction doctor Dr Nazanin Amadieh looks straight at that question through the lens of cannabis use in pregnancy. You’ll hear how Dr Amadieh’s unusual mix of surgical obstetrics and addiction medicine makes her, as Casey jokes, a “unicorn” in the field.
Together they talk through what high‑potency THC actually does in pregnancy: how it crosses the placenta, interacts with the baby’s developing brain as early as five to six weeks, and may affect implantation, placenta formation, blood pressure problems, and low birth weight. The episode is aimed at both clinicians and pregnant people (or partners) who are hearing “it’s legal” or “it’s just a plant” and wondering what that really means.
Dr Amadieh explains why today’s 30–80% THC products are “a different drug” from the 4% cannabis of the 1990s, and why older research can’t fully reassure anyone about safety.
She walks through miscarriage risk, longer NICU stays, possible links with later behavioural issues like attention difficulties, and the tricky overlap between pregnancy sickness and cannabinoid hyperemesis – including her very practical “hot shower test.” Breastfeeding, CBD products, vaping versus edibles, and relapse back to cannabis in the postpartum “fourth trimester” all get clear, stigma‑free discussion. The tone stays friendly and occasionally funny, but the message is steady: legality and plant origin don’t equal harmlessness, especially for a developing baby.
If you’re a clinician looking for evidence‑based talking points, or an expectant parent trying to make sense of mixed messages about cannabis, this conversation offers grounded, compassionate guidance. How might this change the way you think about “just a bit of weed” in pregnancy?
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