Healthcare professionals want more training to address increase in perinatal cannabis use, study finds – Becker’s Hospital Review

Pregnant women are using marijuana more often and are turning to their dispensaries for medical advice instead of healthcare professionals, WSU Insider reported Nov. 15.

Daily or near-daily use of marijuana has increased among pregnant women to 3.4 percent in 2017, and past month usage has nearly doubled, to 7 percent, since 2002. Despite the increase, health guidance and education has remained much the same, making many healthcare professionals ill-prepared to advise patients.

Current national guidelines advise women who are pregnant not to use cannabis which has been linked to a variety of birth defects. Some pregnant women are turning to "budtenders," commercial marijuana sellers, for advice and guidance on taking the drug after reporting feeling stigmatized by health professionals.

A new study surveyed both 10 medical professionals and 10 commercial marijuana sellers to understand their perceptions and knowledge of perinatal cannabis use. It found that both groups understood that pregnant women were often seeking cannabis as an alternative medicine to relieve pain and nausea associated with childbearing.But the budtenders had a more positive view of cannabis use during pregnancy, with some saying it has positive effects or no effect at all.

Healthcare professionals were far more concerned. Cannabis use in pregnant women has been linked to a range of birth defects including lower birth weight, still birth and neurodevelopmental issues.

The authors of the study suggest that more training and education need to be given to healthcare workers on this topic, since pregnant women often reported their encounters with medical professionals as generally unhelpful. The healthcare workers in the study reported the need to change their clinical practices to address the reported increase in perinatal cannabis use.

"We need to use all approaches and all people in the patients life to help them," said Celestina Barbosa-Leiker, vice-chancellor for research at Washington State University Health Sciences and an author of the study. "There is such limited research with budtenders, but they need to be part of this conversation because they are seen as trusted sources by their customers and our patients."

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Healthcare professionals want more training to address increase in perinatal cannabis use, study finds - Becker's Hospital Review