- At present, we know that cannabinoids can be present in breast milk after using cannabis. While THC can potentially harm infants, we don’t yet know how CBD might affect them.
- Before breastfeeding during medical marijuana treatment, parents should consider their infant’s safety, their own safety, and ethical concerns (like consent).
- At the end of the day, you and your healthcare provider should make a decision about medical cannabis and breastfeeding that makes sense for you.
Can you use marijuana while breastfeeding? It’s complicated, but most clinical evidence recommends that breastfeeding parents abstain from cannabis use.
But what do we actually know about using cannabis during breastfeeding? Are there any special circumstances to consider? Is smoking weed while you’re breastfeeding really that risky for your child? We’re here to answer all of these questions and more.
At the end of the day, your decision to use or abstain from cannabis while breastfeeding is up to you and your healthcare provider. However, we’re here to help you assess your risk profile and make an evidence-based decision that works for your family.
Safety of Cannabis Use During Breastfeeding: What We Know
Before we dive into the current clinical evidence surrounding cannabis and breastfeeding, it’s important to consider a few notes:
- Ethics and clinical trials – Double-blind, randomized control trials with large sample sizes are the Western medical community’s only definitive sources of facts. To be considered valid, those trials must be ethical—subjects must consent to experimental treatments, for instance. This makes it especially difficult for the Western medical community to gather evidence about certain populations: pregnant people, infants, and young children. Fetuses, babies, and toddlers cannot provide informed consent.
- Self-reported data – Since it’s basically impossible to conduct an ethical, double-blind, randomized control trial about THC in pregnant people, infants, or young children, the Western medical community must rely on self-reported data and breast milk samples submitted by people who have admitted to using cannabis. Like anecdotal evidence, the Western medical community generally doesn’t place much stock in self-reported data.
At TeleLeaf, we recommend working directly with your healthcare provider to make a decision about medical cannabis treatment that makes sense for your goals and risk profile. That said, this guide will touch on various clinical datasets (that, perhaps, should be taken with a grain of salt).
Cannabinoids Can Be Present in Breast Milk
Various experiments have assessed cannabinoid concentrations in samples submitted by breastfeeding people who have admitted to smoking cannabis recently. Those experiments have overwhelmingly identified both THC and CBD in breast milk submitted by people using cannabis.
What does that mean?
- Once they’re introduced to the body, cannabinoids concentrate in breast milk.
- Breast milk with concentrations of cannabinoids, when fed to infants, will introduce cannabinoids to infants’ bodies.
Concentration of cannabinoids is a big predictor of how an adult will respond to a cannabis product. So, are those breast milk cannabinoid concentrations high enough to actually affect infants? In the case of THC, clinical evidence suggests that they may be. In the case of CBD, researchers still aren’t sure.
THC Use May Negatively Impact Infants
As of 2024, clinical evidence about THC’s impact on infants is mixed.
Here are a few highlights:
- A one-year study from 2004 found that daily cannabis use in breastfeeding parents led to reduced infant motor development (but not intellectual development or overall growth).
- A 1985 study determined that occasional cannabis use during breastfeeding did not have any discernible impacts on infants during the study period (which was relatively short).
- A 2024 study conducted in New Zealand determined that infants exposed to cannabis in breast milk were at a higher risk for developing autism spectrum disorder.
Since evidence is mixed (and at least some of that evidence supports that THC in breast milk can harm infants), healthcare providers generally don’t recommend that breastfeeding parents use cannabis.
CBD in Infants is Understudied
As of 2024, the only clinical research conducted related to breastfeeding and CBD has measured concentrations in breast milk—that’s it. No clinical studies have reviewed how CBD might impact breastfed children.
So, we’re not really sure how CBD might affect infants (from a clinical perspective). Again, in the face of uncertainty, healthcare providers don’t recommend that breastfeeding parents use CBD, either.
Considerations for Breastfeeding Parents
If you’re breastfeeding and considering starting medical marijuana treatment, what should you do with this conflicting, limited data? First, you should consult your healthcare provider.
During your conversation, the following topics are likely to come up:
Infant Safety
Is cannabinoid exposure via breast milk safe or unsafe for infants?
Let’s consider both available related datasets:
- Western medicine and clinical trials – At present, clinical data on THC and CBD’s impact on infants is mixed. Clinicians and researchers truly aren’t sure if cannabis exposure via breast milk is safe or unsafe for infants.
- Anecdotal evidence – What about self-reported data from breastfeeding parents about their infants’ health? Even from an anecdotal perspective, this might not be conclusive either. Infants and young children have limited communication skills, making it difficult to gather qualitative evidence about their well-being before, during, and after they consume cannabinoids in breast milk.
Whether you put more stock in Western clinical data or anecdotal reports from breastfeeding cannabis users (or regard them as equally important), you’ll likely still find yourself head-scratching. Infant safety in regards to cannabis is still deeply under-examined in both Western medicine and natural medicine.
Parent Safety
Parent health and safety matters, too—if you’re a parent, you’re allowed to seek treatment for your medical challenges.
The fact of the matter is that cannabis is a life-saving medicine for countless people: survivors of trauma, cancer patients, people with chronic pain, those struggling with anxiety and depression, and more. If medical cannabis treatment is the difference between thriving and spiraling for you, you should take steps to accommodate medical marijuana as a part of your life.
That might mean opting for formula feeding instead of breastfeeding for some patients (again, you should consult your own healthcare provider when making these decisions). While countless studies and anecdotal reports have touted the benefits and drawbacks of both breast milk and formula, the fact remains: fed children are healthy children.
As you consider the role of cannabis and breastfeeding in your life, don’t forget about your health, safety, and well-being. It’s just as important as your infant’s.
Ethical Concerns
As we noted at the beginning of this guide, consent is a major factor when it comes to ethics in healthcare. And we simply cannot deny that using cannabis while you’re breastfeeding poses a consent issue.
Your infant will not (and cannot) consent to:
- Cannabis ingestion – Whether you’re not convinced that cannabis is harmful to babies or you’re on the fence, you get to choose whether or not you use cannabis. Your infant doesn’t get that choice.
- The risks of cannabis use – Every medicine (pharmaceutical and natural) poses a risk profile. While the risks of cannabis use are relatively minimal, they’re still present. Your child can’t assess these risks on their own or accept them.
- The side effects of cannabis use – Between known side effects of some strains (like a dry mouth) and potential side effects we haven’t identified yet, adults can consent to the baggage that can come with using medical marijuana. The same isn’t true for children.
Whether or not cannabis is safe for babies doesn’t change the fact that introducing any substance via breast milk (from prescription antidepressants to medical marijuana) poses a conflict of consent.
Talk to a Healthcare Provider About Medical Cannabis Treatment During Breastfeeding
With all of the above in mind (clinical information and more philosophical considerations), there’s only one way to determine whether or not you should use cannabis while breastfeeding: talk to your healthcare provider.
These licensed experts can help you cut through the noise of clinical data, talk through your worries about risks and ethics, and create a personalized health plan that works for you and your infant.
Anyone but your dedicated provider is unqualified to recommend any medical interventions or abstinence—this guide included. Your provider knows your medical history and understands your parenting goals more than anyone. You can trust them to point you in the right direction.
TeleLeaf: Your Source for Cannabis-Informed Medical Care
Cannabis and breastfeeding is a big, nuanced topic—and the only person who can give you a definitive answer about using marijuana while breastfeeding is your healthcare provider.
When you’re looking for non-judgmental, licensed clinicians with their fingers on the pulse of cannabis research, look no further than TeleLeaf. We’re passionate about connecting patients with the cannabis-informed providers they need to get their medical cannabis cards and create customized care plans.
Discover the TeleLeaf difference by making an appointment now.
Sources:
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Breastfeeding Special Circumstances.
https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding-special-circumstances/hcp/vaccine-medication-drugs/marijuana.html
National Library of Medicine. Cannabis.
https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding-special-circumstances/hcp/vaccine-medication-drugs/marijuana.html
National Library of Medicine. Cannabidiol.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535598/
Neurotoxicity Research. Cannabinoids and Gene Expression During Brain Development.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK501587/
NIDA Research Monograph. Marijuana: Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure in the Human.
https://www.semanticscholar.org/
Psychiatry Research. Exposure to Maternal Cannabis Use Disorder and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Offspring: A Data Linkage Cohort Study.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38788554/
World Health Organization. Malnutrition.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malnutrition
Ashlyn Saucier 
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