Crystal Cain gave birth to an eight-week premature baby girl last week at Oregon Health Science University Hospital last week, and doctors would not allow her to breastfeed – because she regularly smokes marijuana.
Cain fought for her right to breastfeed, and claims that her midwife advised her to smoke during her pregnancy as a way of controlling her anxiety and nausea.
A study in the Journal of Toxicology shows that babies exposed to marijuana through breast milk tend to show signs of “sedation, muscular tonus and poor sucking”. However, Cain doesn’t believe that her baby is at risk:
“There are several studies that indicate that it doesn't, it can't transfer through your milk ducts. Your body automatically kind of filters it.
“It's such a touchy subject that nobody wants to mess with it.”
The hospital has since come to an agreement with Cain:
“We had the mom sign a waiver acknowledging the use of marijuana and the potential risks involved in it.
“We do understand the benefits of mothers' milk. We also don't want to be caught in a situation where a mother continues to use and says that we never gave her information on it, never informed about the risks, and so it's really a way of documenting that the parents acknowledge the risks.”
