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dear s. i found it fascinating and disturbing to sit through all of the responses from everyone. I can't offer you any advice on the marijuana but felt the need to leave you a positive message. To all the ladies who who were harsh and judgemental... I teach 4th grade and would be more than happy to give you a life lesson on manners. You were obviously not taught "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." I don't feel as though this "s" gal would have posted her question if she wasn't a little worried. I for one have found this site very helpful especially when i am feeling a little uneasy about things. It is NOT meant for bashing. it's too bad that some of you ladies feel the need to be that way:( Good luck to you all.

I just have one question that is not meant to be judgemental or offensive - personally I think pot is not as harmful as alcohol or cigs but how would you feel if someone found out and you were turned into child protective services and they took your baby away. Surely if you asked your doctor for advice on this they would be on the horn with them in seconds. Motherhood is putting your child above EVERYTHING else. You will understand when he or she is born (I hope). Good luck to you and I hope all goes well.

to H -- bravo. Feel free to weigh in, but manners, please. You may feel strongly one way or the other, but that does not give you license to be rude and hateful.

Well s I am goin to bite the bullet and say that I smoke a tiny amount of pot every two weeks and I b___stfeed! I have done alot of research on the matter and I am more informed than most people on here so don't go bashing me until you have done research - I mean proper research, not just reading opinionated websites. Study after study reveals no negative effects on infants whose mothers smoked pot while b___stfeeding. My child is going to be fine just as my older child is and I smoked occasionally when I was feeding her too. S, I am not giving you a green light, but writing in support of your freedom of choice.

I hate to say it.. but I worry more for the children of the women that are on here bashing each other and being judgemental than those who smoke pot. Seems to me like a lot of the women on here need to do a lot of growing up and soul searching before they continue to reproduce. It's a shame that these children are going to grow up just like their parents.

thanks for asking, of course here I am seeking the same answer. So far I have also read the studies stating not to smoke until your baby is at least one month old and then only on a rare occasion. I would also like to add that you should NOT co- sleep after using due to the increased risk of rolling over on your baby.I know that sounds silly but I have also read some research on that subject

i got a question too...is it harmful during pregnancy if some one smoke near you, will it hurt the baby? and after when the baby is born is it harmful if some one smokes near the baby?? thanx

speaking of biting the bullet, yes I smoked pot while I fed. It was occasional, and I was uninformed of any dangers. My son is now 19 going to college on scholarships, he graduated high school at the top of his cla__s. He is not judgmental, nor angry. He has never been sick a day in his life nor has he ever been in trouble. He has been a top athlete and continues to be so in college. Maybe I am a lucky one. Just thought I would add my comment.

Good for your for asking your honest question! Shame on all of you who are so judmental of pot smokers. Isn't part of raising a healthy child having a mother who is happy? If it takes the edge off I believe that using very small amounts will probably not have a significant effect on your baby. However this is something you must decide for yourself. Try not to use very much if you do and try not to make the brainwashed straight world make you feel guilty about it. How many of you people who have judged this woman so harshly drive air polluting SUVs,take pharmesuitical drugs and spray harmful fertilizers on your lawn? How many of you have mouths full of potentially harmful mercury fillings? Get a grip. It seems to me that those who have respoded to this question who are the most well spoken are the pot users and/or those who do not use but do not judge. I feel sorry for any of you who you are afraid of life because something is illegal. Don't you think for yourself? Do you need big brother to tell you what to do? If you have any brains, one would avoid heavy drugs because we know they are highly addictive and damaging. I don't say no because they are illegal. I say no because common sense tells me that it is not a good idea to use them because of the bad side effects. The brightest and most interesting people I know have all used and or still smoke marijuanna. If it inspires a person to do something creative isn't that better than sitting on the couch watching TV and feeling depressed? Then again, if smoking causes you to be unmotivated then perhaps you should not use it. Remember moderation is the key. I am now in my last month of pregnancy and can't wait to be liberated from this growing life inside me. I'm looking forward to being a responsible mother but I'm also looking forward to having a day to myself where I can drink a few ciders and smoke some pot and dance and play music and be free from guilt! PS I have met many people who have told me about how healthy and normal their children are even though they smoked during and after their pregnancies.

I am so glad that this has turned into a "hippie" chat for all of you pot smokers to speak your mind and give all of your reasons why smoking pot is okay in your little minds. How about this, go for a walk or something to free your mind, save your brains and your lungs!

"Some of the best research into the effects that cannabis-using moms have on their children has been done by Dr Melanie Dreher, Dean and Professor at the University of Iowa's College of Nursing. Earlier, methodologically flawed studies done in the US showed that among pot-using pregnant moms, children had a lower birth weight and were more likely to suffer Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. But these studies compared pot-smoking women who lived at the poverty level with non-tokers who enjoyed a higher standard of living. When Dreher corrected for the poverty level by doing a cross-cultural study in Jamaica, she found that children of pot-using pregnant women were more well adjusted, better organized, had "more robust motor and autonomic systems," were less irritable, and were "more rewarding for caregivers."

it's amazing how few people can read isn't it, S? I read your question thinking, "Well, she's made it perfectly clear that she is only interested in the facts, not peoples' opinions on the subject, and she is being very responsible by researching this thoroughly, I might be able to learn a few things here, should be a good thread" I never read anywhere that you were smoking pot while pregnant, nor planning to smoke around the baby, and that you only wanted to smoke every couple of weeks, yet some people appeared to have read things that weren't there into your post! I too have given it up (apart from maybe 10 tiny puffs total in the first trimester to help me on the worst morning sickness days, I DIDN'T get high). I was pleased to read most of this thread, it's nice to know there are still plenty of people out there who don't start foaming at the mouth at the word "pot", regardless of how, when and where it is used. I have to agree with some other posters who have said they feel sorry for these peoples' children. I don't like to say things like that, but I think the best thing you can do for children is teach them to think for themselves, to learn to use their good judgement to make their own decisions about what is right or wrong, question everything they are not sure about, and most of all let them know the world is not painted in black and white as some would have them think, it has grey areas lurking in all corners. A lot of people I know were brought up in households where they were given very strict, narrowminded information about what was acceptable in life, and these are the ones who have gone off the rails. Sad, but true. S, you are obviously being very sensible about your pot smoking, ignore what other people have said, they are simply sheep, blindly following each other and unable to think for themselves. I hope you are able to get all the info you need, I have been looking this up also. If you find anything of interest, please post.

To all of you b___hing at me on here, do some research on the subject and when you find something to say tell me, cause i look and look and look. Everything on this subject is inconclusive or they say they have found no direct effect on a baby of a mother that smokes while b___stfeeding, Not while pregnant, need i repeat that so it get through to you. Not while pregnant while b___stfeeding. So if you come back with information on smoking while being pregnant you will only make yourself look like an a__s.

S: I posted the info I found on pot using pregnant women because I think when you start talking about b___stfeeding and pregnancy cannabis use, you're really talking about roughly the same thing. And I think that neither is evil or deadly for children-- unborn or b___stfeeding infants. And to all you freakers out there, what I'm advocating is responsible adult decision making where an informed person can choose to use or not and NOT --I repeat not-- that pot smoking Moms need to start shoving j's into the mouths of preschoolers. You have a lot of adult information and issues that you hide or keep from children because they are children. So please, just because I smoke doesn't mean I'm going to even discuss it with my child let alone suggest they ever do it. It's like s_x or drinking or anything else, adults make those decisions. ANYWAY, about b___stfeeding. Even studies that I've read strictly against pot use have said that the THC concentration in b___st milk is not enough to intoxicate an infant. That is, even though the percentage of THC may be more concentrated it has no effect on the child because by that point it has essentially been used up by the mother. I just hope that I'm not one of the people who have failed you by mentioning pregnancy use. Like I said, I don't think there's any difference and I am not going to argue about semantics. Marijuana has been used historically to treat all kinds of pregnancy related maladies from morning sickness to stalled labor. The only thing the medical profession was ever able to come up with regarding morning sickness was Thalidomide, if you want to do some horrific research, look into that one. Children born with severe deformities, limbless-- you name it. And even the medication docs regularly prescribe right now today for stalled labor has deadly side effects like uterine rupture. We're living in a strange time where the whole current administration looking absolutely everywhere for proof positive that pot is bad for babies and causing civilization to unravel at an extraordinary pace and what do they have, NOTHING. Continue to be a responsible parent, do not smoke ANYTHING around your children (carcinogens!) and search out your own answers. You're not alone.

i do not smoke pot, but i think the whole "it's-illegal-so-it-must- be-really-bad-for-you" argument is weak. oral s_x is illegal in some states (yes, between a man and a woman) so does that mean it is bad? we could probably find a thousand examples like that about certain behaviors/acts that are illegal. also, there is something to be said for knowing something about what may have been occurring historically when a law was written and pa__sed. "another l" was closer to the mark about business being a bigger driving force in the illegalization of marijuana than say its ill-effects on human health. (i thought that the cotton industry had more to do with pot's illegalization than tobacco though) with that said, i also think it is ridiculous to say that smoking pot is not harmful to you at all- pregnant/b___st-feeding or not. yes, i know that drinking alcohol has just as bad, and in many cases, worse effects than pot-smoking, but that does not mean that pot-smoking is without its risks. i have not done the requested research on how long thc stays in one's system, but i do know that it is a fat-soluable substance, so it'll stay in your body a lot longer than say alcohol. at least if one has a few drinks when nursing, one can "pump and dump" for a day if one was so inclined. i don't think that you have any good way of knowing when your b___stmilk is thc-free. if you are going to b___stfeed, then i think you should hold out on the reefer until you are done nursing. if you can't, then you may want to switch to formula. the way i see it, it's basically an unnecessary action with a certain but unknown level of risk and absolutely no benefit to the baby. in any case, no judgement on you here. good luck to you and your little one.

I have to add to the person who doesn't smoke pot yet couldn't come up with a better screen name than *****.... "You're so glad it's turned into a 'hippie' chat for us to speak our minds about why pot smoking is okay in our little minds? What, you don't like it and can't respect our ability to counter with medically supported studies that also prove it's inconclusive that pot smoking is inherently bad? There are also studies and medical beliefs that marijuana has MEDICINAL VALUES, and yes, has been used to treat illness from cancer to--you got it, baby, morning sickness. Where have you ever seen alcohol or cigarettes supported and used for medical purposes? Yet how many women do you know would enjoy the occasional gla__s (no, not bottle!!) of wine while pregnant? How many pregnant women do you know who didn't kick their smoking habit? Too many of you people got your tighty whities in a wad without considering, much less researching, both sides of the issue, and THAT'S the people with the truly "little minds." It's interesting too that many of these were the least articulate posters who couldn't do much better than name-calling and finger-pointing while tearing out their hair.