One in five pregnant women report using CBD-only products

Key takeaways:

• More pregnant than nonpregnant women reported CBD use in the past 30 days.
• Pregnant women were more likely to use CBD for mental health, nausea or vomiting, appetite, seizures and cancer vs. nonpregnant women.

Twenty percent of pregnant women reported using CBD-only products during pregnancy despite limited available data on potential adverse outcomes of CBD, according to findings published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

“Prenatal cannabis use (use of products containing THC and CBD during pregnancy) is concerning due to the risk of adverse consequences for offspring. Significantly less is known about prenatal use of CBD-only products,” Devika Bhatia, MD, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. “However, because CBD product sales have increased dramatically in recent years, and CBD is perceived as safer than other substances, CBD use during pregnancy may occur at significant rates.”

Bhatia and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study using data from 2019 to 2021 from the International Cannabis Policy Study, an annual, web-based survey of 66,457 female respondents aged 16 to 65 years in the U.S. and Canada. Researchers compared CBD-only product use patterns and reasons for use among pregnant and nonpregnant women.

Overall, 1,096 respondents were pregnant.

More pregnant women reported current CBD use compared with nonpregnant women (20.4% vs. 11.3%; adjusted OR = 1.82; 95% CI, 1.52-2.18; P < .001). The most common CBD-only product used among pregnant (70.9%) and nonpregnant (58.7%) women was CBD oils. Pregnant women were less likely to report using CBD concentrates, hash or kief, dried herb, hemp oil or other forms.

Pregnant women were more likely than nonpregnant women to report using CBD for mental health reasons, such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, bipolar disorder, psychosis, schizophrenia, substance use, eating disorder or ADHD. According to the researchers, pregnant women were statistically significantly more likely to report CBD use for nausea or vomiting, appetite, seizures and cancer compared with nonpregnant women.

Nonpregnant women were also statistically significantly more likely to report using CBD for pain, sleep, general well-being and other physical or mental health reasons compared with pregnant women, according to the researchers.

“This study addresses gaps in knowledge regarding the characteristics of pregnant women currently using CBD-only products, informs clinicians about reasons for CBD use that may require treatment and encourages routine screening for perinatal CBD-only use,” the researchers wrote. “Importantly, these findings warrant initiating a robust study of perinatal CBD-only use for pregnancy- and offspring-related outcomes.”