You smoked while pregnant? I don't give a f*ck what you 'believe', that is wrong. "Natural"? Get a clue.

Next time you are pregnant, put down the joint and educate yourself.

Consequences of prenatal toxin exposure for mental health in children and adolescents: a systematic review.

Bluhm EC, Daniels J, Pollock BH, Olshan AF; Children's Oncology Group (United States).

Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7435, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether maternal use of recreational drugs around conception and pregnancy influences the risk of childhood neuroblastoma. METHODS: Self-reported use of recreational drugs from one month prior to pregnancy until diagnosis was assessed among mothers of 538 children with neuroblastoma (diagnosed 1992-1994 and identified through the Children's Cancer Group and Pediatric Oncology Group) and 504 age-matched controls (identified by random-digit dialing). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for age at diagnosis and household income. RESULTS: Maternal use of any illicit or recreational drug around pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of neuroblastoma in offspring (OR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.13, 3.00), particularly use of marijuana in the first trimester of pregnancy (OR = 4.75, 95% CI: 1.55, 16.48). Marijuana use in the month before pregnancy did not increase risk. The effect of gestational marijuana exposure was strongest in subjects diagnosed before age one. Evaluation of recreational drugs other than marijuana was limited by infrequent use, and analyses of drug use by fathers were not carried out due to missing data. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal recreational drug use and marijuana use during pregnancy were associated with increased risk of neuroblastoma in offspring. Further examination of these drugs and the risk of childhood cancer is warranted.
Discrete opioid gene expression impairment in the human fetal brain associated with maternal marijuana use.
Wang X, Dow-Edwards D, Anderson V, Minkoff H, Hurd YL.

Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatry Section, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.

Fetal development is a period sensitive to environmental influences such as maternal drug use. The most commonly used illicit drug by pregnant women is marijuana. The present study investigated the effects of in utero marijuana exposure on expression levels of opioid-related genes in the human fetal forebrain in light of the strong interaction between the cannabinoid and opioid systems. The study group consisted of 42 midgestation fetuses from saline-induced voluntary abortions. The opioid peptide precursors (preprodynorphin and preproenkephalin (PENK)) and receptor (mu, kappa and delta) mRNA expression were assessed in distinct brain regions. The effect of prenatal cannabis exposure was analyzed by multiple regression controlling for confounding variables (maternal alcohol and cigarette use, fetal age, sex, growth measure and post-mortem interval). Prenatal cannabis exposure was significantly associated with increased mu receptor expression in the amygdala, reduced kappa receptor mRNA in mediodorsal thalamic nucleus and reduced preproenkephalin expression in the caudal putamen. Prenatal alcohol exposure primarily influenced the kappa receptor mRNA with reduced levels in the amygdala, claustrum, putamen and insula cortex. No significant effect of prenatal nicotine exposure could be discerned in the present study group. These results indicate that maternal cannabis and alcohol exposure during pregnancy differentially impair opioid-related genes in distinct brain circuits that may have long-term effects on cognitive and emotional behaviors.
Maternal smoking, drinking or cannabis use during pregnancy and neurobehavioral and cognitive functioning in human offspring.
Huizink AC, Mulder EJ.

Erasmus Medical Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, P.O. Box 2060, 3000 CB Rotterdam, The Netherlands. [email protected]

Teratological investigations have demonstrated that agents that are relatively harmless to the mother may have significant negative consequences to the fetus. Among these agents, prenatal alcohol, nicotine or cannabis exposure have been related to adverse offspring outcomes. Although there is a relatively extensive body of literature that has focused upon birth and behavioral outcomes in newborns and infants after prenatal exposure to maternal smoking, drinking and, to a lesser extent, cannabis use, information on neurobehavioral and cognitive teratogenic findings beyond these early ages is still quite limited. Furthermore, most studies have focused on prenatal exposure to heavy levels of smoking, drinking or cannabis use. Few recent studies have paid attention to low or moderate levels of exposure to these substances. This review endeavors to provide an overview of such studies, and includes animal findings and potential mechanisms that may explain the mostly subtle effects found on neurobehavioral and cognitive outcomes. It is concluded that prenatal exposure to either maternal smoking, alcohol or cannabis use is related to some common neurobehavioral and cognitive outcomes, including symptoms of ADHD (inattention, impulsivity), increased externalizing behavior, decreased general cognitive functioning, and deficits in learning and memory tasks.

... and that was just the top of the first page of a PubMed search. I hope your baby is okay.