Displaying episodes by topic: prenatal
Thursday, 08 October 2020 20:41
E56 - Prenatal Cannabis Exposure #2 – Dr. Mishka Terplan
Is cannabis something to fear when it comes to prenatal health? The easy answer is yes, when we consider the universally acceptable care plan of all pregnancies are best lived following a healthy diet, doing appropriate exercise, and consuming no unnecessary drugs or medications. With cannabis becoming more widely used as a medicine and consumed recreationally by a growing population, it is important to fully understand how cannabis affects human development and family health. In their second episode discussing Prenatal Cannabis Exposure, Kirk and Trevor explore the implications of cannabis use in pregnancies with Virginia Commonwealth University’s Dr. Mishka Terplan of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Psychiatry. It may surprise you to discover how care giver behaviours and social policy may actually be more harmful to a family’s health and wellbeing than the mother using cannabis during pregnancy. What does current research actually say about the threat of prenatal cannabis exposure to the unborn child? How can understanding the bigger picture of women and family health help change our current policies on prenatal health?
Wednesday, 08 July 2020 07:09
E52 - Prenatal Cannabis Exposure – Dr. Ciara Torres
Let us start by saying, we encourage pregnant women toward balanced diets, proper exercise, and we discourage unnecessary drug and alcohol use. But, what if a mother consumes cannabis during pregnancy? In this episode Kirk and Trevor begin to explore prenatal cannabis exposure and are joined by Dr. Ciara Torres, Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Columbia University. This neuroscientists near six-year meta-analysis found prenatal use of cannabis does not lead to cognitive impairment of children. Dr. Torres discusses how her study, published May 2020, offers policy makers a better understanding of how cannabis affects newborns. Often babies are removed from a family when it is discovered a mother used cannabis during the pregnancy; this action may actually be more harmful than the exposure. Proper prenatal care is paramount when predicting the future success of an unborn child. This episode is designed to start the debate, so have a listen and offer your feedback by sending us a note to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.