For the study, researchers analyzed data from women aged 18 to 44 years from the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2002 through 2014. Of the 200,510 women analyzed, 5.3 percent were pregnant.
The analysis revealed the rate of women reporting marijuana use in the last 30 days increased from 2.37 percent in 2002 to 3.85 percent in 2014.
Marijuana use among the pregnant women also varied by age. Use was highest among women 18 to 25 years of age, with 7.47 percent reporting past-month use in 2014. For women aged 26 to 44 years, the rate was 2.12 percent.
“These results offer an important step toward understanding trends in marijuana use among women of reproductive age. Although the prevalence of past-month use among pregnant women (3.85 percent) is not high, the increases over time and potential adverse consequences of prenatal marijuana exposuresuggest further monitoring and research are warranted,” researchers concluded. “To ensure optimal maternal and child health, practitioners should screen and counsel pregnant women and women contemplating pregnancy about prenatal marijuana use.”
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