Drug testing on newborn babies.

I'm Gunner's girlfriend, I'm from Illinois, and I'm 29 weeks pregnant. I used marijuana up until 25 weeks, after several people told me they would test my baby without my consent and take him away if it came out positive. I've done A LOT of research on this, but haven't heard a straight answer yet. Some sources say they will only test the baby if the mother appears intoxicated or has tattoos or piercings, others say they can't legally test the baby without my consent, and some say they will regardless. I can't find a single source that gives me a difinitive answer. I even spoke to an attorney from NORML, and he didn't give me a very clear answer either. Everywhere mostly says to look up my state laws. The problem is that I don't know how to go about doing that, or what to even look for. So my question is, are there any mothers from Illinois who know whether or not they drug test your baby in Illinois? Or anyone who happens to know the laws?
If you're only giving your moral opinion, don't bother. I don't need to hear you bashing me for smoking pot while pregnant. I've done my research, and most of you who will have something negative to say haven't and have no idea what you're talking about. So keep your close-minded, brainwashed opinions to yourself and only answer if you have the information I'm asking for. Thanks.

Im not going to bash you for your choice but I will let you know that I have a friend who smoked pot and cigarettes all throughout her pregnancy and let me tell you that baby was extremly low in birth weight. The baby was 5 lbs 9 oz and 19 inches long full term. The smoke from both stunted the baby's growth in the womb because the smoke contains carbon monoxide which in turn starved the baby of well needed oxygen. So be aware it is possible to have some repurcutions for smoking while pregnant. I'm not saying all babies get this but be prepared. My friend felt horrible after the baby was born and seen how tiny it was and kept telling me what a bad selfish mother she already is. I think she is now going through postpartum depression but wont admit it, and I'm sure having this on her shoulders has contributed to that.

My friend was not drug tested but we are in a different state. I googled for your state and this is the only thing I could really find. Scroll down to the bottom to find a section where it talks about different states and what they do. Using Illegal Drugs during Pregnancy : American Pregnancy Association
Normally they will not drug test unless they suspect you are on drugs or if the baby is going through any kind of withdrawals or symptoms of drug use. Their haven't been too many studies on cannabis and infants so no one really knows exactly what kind of effect it could have. I would just advise you to be careful.

I will bash ever so lightly. Do you not want or care about the child growing inside you because of YOUR actions? (rhetorical) You only seem to care about what will happen to you. You are one of the reasons MMJ gets a secondary bad rep as too many people would love to conceive and would take every caution to give the child a gighting chance i n this cruel world. cigarettes included

oh and can you produce evidence stating SMOKING does no harm to children while in the womb?

doubtful. as i have done my research too

I do wish you'd vape, instead, but I toked during both of my pregnancies and my kids came out so smart they didn't know what to do with them in kindergarten!

There are several studies on pregnancy and cannabis (click the link in my sig). In a Jamaican study, the kids of pot smokers were marginally ahead of "straight" mom's kids.

And from my own observations with other folks kids- pot doesn't mess up your kids ability to learn. The same cannot be said about the speed type drugs- I work in special ed- an amazing percentage of "my kids" have speed freak parents (some are now former users).

I have no clue where to find the answer to your question. Sorry. I wish you all the best.

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Originally Posted by Storm Crow

I do wish you'd vape, instead, but I toked during both of my pregnancies and my kids came out so smart they didn't know what to do with them in kindergarten!

There are several studies on pregnancy and cannabis (click the link in my sig). In a Jamaican study, the kids of pot smokers were marginally ahead of "straight" mom's kids.

And from my own observations with other folks kids- pot doesn't mess up your kids ability to learn. The same cannot be said about the speed type drugs- I work in special ed- an amazing percentage of "my kids" have speed freak parents (some are now former users).

I have no clue where to find the answer to your question. Sorry. I wish you all the best.

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or you both had good genes.
true if your going to beusing at least vape.

congrats on the kid and good luck.

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Originally Posted by Gunner420

I'm Gunner's girlfriend, I'm from Illinois, and I'm 29 weeks pregnant. I used marijuana up until 25 weeks, after several people told me they would test my baby without my consent and take him away if it came out positive. I've done A LOT of research on this, but haven't heard a straight answer yet. Some sources say they will only test the baby if the mother appears intoxicated or has tattoos or piercings, others say they can't legally test the baby without my consent, and some say they will regardless. I can't find a single source that gives me a difinitive answer. I even spoke to an attorney from NORML, and he didn't give me a very clear answer either. Everywhere mostly says to look up my state laws. The problem is that I don't know how to go about doing that, or what to even look for. So my question is, are there any mothers from Illinois who know whether or not they drug test your baby in Illinois? Or anyone who happens to know the laws?
If you're only giving your moral opinion, don't bother. I don't need to hear you bashing me for smoking pot while pregnant. I've done my research, and most of you who will have something negative to say haven't and have no idea what you're talking about. So keep your close-minded, brainwashed opinions to yourself and only answer if you have the information I'm asking for. Thanks.

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I had a neice that went through this here in Washington. Here they can legally take the baby into custody if it tests positive for drugs. In her case they tested the imbilicle cord. She showed positive for meth. Which wasn't true. We fought for 3 days to get these crooks to send it off for GC/MS confirmation test where it showed up negative. Do some research. There should be a legal aid place there in Illinois that should be able to tell you what the laws are.
It puts a mother in a terrible position. You can try to have the kid birthed at home to avoid these nazi terrorists. But then off course it involves risks to both you and the baby. I feel for you. Its a terrible position to be put in when you have done nothing wrong.

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Originally Posted by jeepboi

I will bash ever so lightly. Do you not want or care about the child growing inside you because of YOUR actions? (rhetorical) You only seem to care about what will happen to you. You are one of the reasons MMJ gets a secondary bad rep as too many people would love to conceive and would take every caution to give the child a gighting chance i n this cruel world.

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Originally Posted by jeepboi

oh and can you produce evidence stating SMOKING does no harm to children while in the womb?

doubtful. as i have done my research too

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There is no proof that eating peanut butter while pregnant doesn't cause the fetus harm either. Would you recommend that pregnant women don't eat peanut butter?

Using your logic, pregnant women would have to starve for nine months in order to avoid ingesting anything that might possibly harm the fetus, even though there is no evidence that such harm has ever taken place.


Edit:
I want to add a little something to this post - based on unimpeachable empirical evidence...:D


About -- oh 35-45 years ago, we had a little something called Hippies. A whole generation of them. They smoked a lot of pot (they did various other things too).

Now they were say about 15 to 29 back then (can't trust anyone over 30 was their motto) which makes them now about 50 to 64, with kids who are now in their early 30's and up, and many even breaking into their 40s. Yup the whole Generation X group.

You know the end result of all that free-love? Babies. Lots of babies. And you wanna know something else? The Maternity Wards didn't have an influx of "pot-babies" during the 1970's and 80's.

If pot affected babies, that's when it would have been noticed and the government would have climbed all over it -- it was the era of Nancy Reagan and "Just Say No" and eggs frying with your "brain on drugs" (which of course, just made us all have an instant case of the munchies:D).

Oh and here's another bit of information that will crisp the noodle -- all those (off-topic smokable drug) babies from the 80's? Seems it wasn't the drug or the withdrawl that was their problem, it was lack of nutrition and pre-natal care for their Moms, who were afraid to seek help from the state because they were hooked on the drug... Malnourished mothers and poor prenatal care is the leading cause of infant mortality, brain damage, and disability.

Just a thought to be known...

smoking and being prego no biggy, my wife smoke thoughout the whole pregnancy and our baby was bigger longer than the first when she didnt smoke!

I agree try to vape or eat, or just not smoke a whole lot, like once a day is good!

congrats on baby

I'm a nursing tech on a pediatrics/labor and delivery floor. I have seen many babies come and go over the past 5 years... Some of the mothers who were tested for drugs ended up having babies born with cannabis in their system. By protocol, we were required to treat them for withdrawal, though from both my personal observations, as well as the plethora of nurses and OBGYNs on my unit, it's pretty much a joke. The only infant who did have signs of withdrawal, who tested positive for THC was also suffering opiate withdrawal.

Generally in Maryland, unless they have a reason to test the baby/mom for drug use, they won't. The babies with THC in their systems generally require a very short social work consult, but nothing of consequence.

I know this is purely anecdotal, but my best friend's mother is a very intelligent woman- one of the most respected arachnologists in the country! She also smokes pot. And lots of it. She admitted to smoking when pregnant, for both children. My friend is absolutely brilliant, and a wonderful person, as is her brother.

Good call for those of you who recognize more harm in the combustion of the plant material as more of a harmful thing than the THC and CBNs. Cannabinoids are actually produced by the mother when breastfeeding- this encourages the infant to keep drinking the nutritious milk, though I wouldn't necessarily smoke and then immediately breastfeed, the chemicals are passed to the baby.

I'd think vaporizers, brownies, tinctures, etc. would be best during pregnancy, though.

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Originally Posted by Purple Banana

I'm a nursing tech on a pediatrics/labor and delivery floor. I have seen many babies come and go over the past 5 years... Some of the mothers who were tested for drugs ended up having babies born with cannabis in their system. By protocol, we were required to treat them for withdrawal, though from both my personal observations, as well as the plethora of nurses and OBGYNs on my unit, it's pretty much a joke. The only infant who did have signs of withdrawal, who tested positive for THC was also suffering opiate withdrawal.

Generally in Maryland, unless they have a reason to test the baby/mom for drug use, they won't. The babies with THC in their systems generally require a very short social work consult, but nothing of consequence.

I know this is purely anecdotal, but my best friend's mother is a very intelligent woman- one of the most respected arachnologists in the country! She also smokes pot. And lots of it. She admitted to smoking when pregnant, for both children. My friend is absolutely brilliant, and a wonderful person, as is her brother.

Good call for those of you who recognize more harm in the combustion of the plant material as more of a harmful thing than the THC and CBNs. Cannabinoids are actually produced by the mother when breastfeeding- this encourages the infant to keep drinking the nutritious milk, though I wouldn't necessarily smoke and then immediately breastfeed, the chemicals are passed to the baby.

I'd think vaporizers, brownies, tinctures, etc. would be best during pregnancy, though.

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a much nicer informative post than my own.

So gunner how did it go?

MY GOD PEOPLE!!!!
She said DON'T give her your views on it. All she wanted to know is whether they would test her baby in fucking Illinois. If you don't know don't reply.

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Originally Posted by luciddreamer

MY GOD PEOPLE!!!!
She said DON'T give her your views on it. All she wanted to know is whether they would test her baby in fucking Illinois. If you don't know don't reply.

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Chill out... Some gave legitimate advice, others voiced their opinions. Telling them not to is like you saying "Mom, don't get mad, BUT..." It just happens. It's human nature. And the Internet.

Best of luck with everything, and congrats! Let us know how things turn out, Gunner's girlfriend! :thumbsup:

I hope she did OK. I've seen child protective services in action and they are real nazi gestapo pricks. My friend had here life torn to pieces when they said they were going to take her kid because of a faulty drug test. A horrible thing to do to a new mother.

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Originally Posted by luciddreamer

MY GOD PEOPLE!!!!
She said DON'T give her your views on it. All she wanted to know is whether they would test her baby in fucking Illinois. If you don't know don't reply.

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Well you didn't know the answer but yet you still replied. Maybe you should have taken your own advice. You seem like you need to ingest some THC and calm down.


I hope everything is ok Gunner's gf!

Well smoking cigerettes and pot will most likely have the baby be underweight especially since cigerettes have something in it that makes people not have an appetite and you are doubling up on how much carbon monoxide you are putting in your body.

But coming from the doctor if you smoke alot of weed even before you found out you were pregnant, They said that you cannot quit cold turkey because it will put a shock to the baby's system and cause more problems than continuing to smoke. They said they are more concerned with the harder drugs since the only problem would be the low oxygen level from the carbon monoxide.

As for the drug testing, in the state of Iowa it's if you are on file at DHS for having problems with previous kids because it gives them probable cause.

I know many people who only smoked weed while they were pregnant and had no problems but one person did have the baby a month early because it developed everything early and its a healthy baby girl.

This website (Melanie Dreher, Jamaican Pregnancy Study) that shows a research done in Jamaca :rastasmoke: on pregnant women and how their children developed over time after the pregnancy. They found that there was no difference between the children of a user and of a non-user..

If you do continue to smoke be careful on who you are getting it from, where it's coming from etc. because you could run the chance of having problems if it is laced with another drug or chemical and if you want to quit try to do it slowly and not cold turkey.

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Originally Posted by Gunner420

several people told me they would test my baby without my consent and take him away if it came out positive.

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First of all, who the hell is saying that? Are you hearing that from some sort of medical professional or a crazy paranoid family member? "Several people"?

Second, the idea of a mother getting her baby taken away just for testing positive for THC seems pretty silly. That is why I'm wondering who told you that in the first place. I'm having a difficult time imagining a medical professional saying that rather than someone in your personal life trying to take advantage of your ignorance of your rights and the laws to scare you into conforming to their sense of right and wrong.

THEY WILL DO A MARCONIUM TEST!!!!!!!!!!! 'CPS WILL BE INVOLVED!!!!!!!

KNOW YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AS A PATIENT,AND DO NOT LET THE DOCTORS DO THE TEST WITHOUT CONSENT FROM YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Gunner!
This is my first visit to this site. I registered so I could let you know that it is Mandatory in Illinois to test newborns for drugs. I have a gf that had her baby a month ago and they did test her baby for drugs in
GA. As I was researching, I found a site that shows all states and what their mandates are pertaining to this.
here is the link....hope it helps you. Congrats & Good Luck...
A national survey of state maternal and newborn drug testing and reporting policies.

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Originally Posted by Gunner420

I'm Gunner's girlfriend, I'm from Illinois, and I'm 29 weeks pregnant. I used marijuana up until 25 weeks, after several people told me they would test my baby without my consent and take him away if it came out positive. I've done A LOT of research on this, but haven't heard a straight answer yet. Some sources say they will only test the baby if the mother appears intoxicated or has tattoos or piercings, others say they can't legally test the baby without my consent, and some say they will regardless. I can't find a single source that gives me a difinitive answer. I even spoke to an attorney from NORML, and he didn't give me a very clear answer either. Everywhere mostly says to look up my state laws. The problem is that I don't know how to go about doing that, or what to even look for. So my question is, are there any mothers from Illinois who know whether or not they drug test your baby in Illinois? Or anyone who happens to know the laws?
If you're only giving your moral opinion, don't bother. I don't need to hear you bashing me for smoking pot while pregnant. I've done my research, and most of you who will have something negative to say haven't and have no idea what you're talking about. So keep your close-minded, brainwashed opinions to yourself and only answer if you have the information I'm asking for. Thanks.

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i'm a lil worried too. My wife is thinking of stopping vaporizing a month prior to getting pregnant. So is it true that weed will make an unhealthy baby? I hear both answers and looking for more opinions or facts.

I'm not a doctor but I see plenty of women having to deal with Child Protective Services due to the discovery of prior drug use during the process of delivery.

Testing for fetal exposure to illicit drugs is commonly achieved through testing the mother via a blood and/or urine test and/or umbilical cord tissue or meconium staining analysis.

I personally haven't seen any case where CPS got involved where only indications of cannabis use were present. They're generally going after the methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin users.

Of course I hope everyone realizes that tobacco and alcohol use are just as dangerous to the health of the unborn child as the illcit substances.

As I stated in my old post. If the thugs pull this shit on you be sure to request a confirmation test. That is the only thing that saved my neice from having here child stolen by the government.
And I would highly recommend that women stop smoking before they get pregnant. Its not that cannabis is in any way dangerous for the fetus, its not. But the potential is there for having your child stolen from you. Its very traumatic.

Word. Well..regardless..i think i'm gonna quit w/ my wife a month b4 conceiving and during her pregnancy just to support her! :)

Im gonna send this topic over to the guys over at Medical Marijuana Bootcamp to see if they have any good things to say. http://medicalmarijuanabootcamp.com

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Originally Posted by weedlover714

Word. Well..regardless..i think i'm gonna quit w/ my wife a month b4 conceiving and during her pregnancy just to support her! :)

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You're so sweet :) Any girl would be lucky to have you. I quit for my boyfriend when he had to stop smoking for a pre-employment drug test, and it made it SO much easier for him. I can stop smoking and not even notice; he feels awful after a few hours of not smoking, so it was nice that I could provide that support for him.