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How Substance Use Can Affect Pregnancy

Avoiding substances while pregnant helps keep you and your baby safe. Using substances while pregnant can affect how your baby grows before and after they are born. It can be dangerous for you and your baby. 

Help your baby get a healthy start!

Terms to Know

Substance: Alcohol, nicotine, medicines, and drugs that are legal, illegal, or prescribed. Often, substances are things that can change your mind or mood.

Substance use: Eating, drinking, smoking, or using any substance.

Substance use disorder (SUD): A clinical word for using substances in a way that causes distress and problems with daily living. Problems with working, relationships, school, etc. This includes using prescription medicine in a way your doctor did not tell you to. Such as taking medicine:

  • Without a prescription
  • Prescribed to someone else
  • More than prescribed
  • Longer than prescribed

Most scientists and medical providers think SUD is a long-term illness, like asthma, hypertension (high blood pressure), or diabetes.

Non-medical substances: Commonly known as “drugs.” This includes heroin, methamphetamine, ecstasy, cocaine, and other substances that change a person’s mood or state of mind for non-medical reasons.

Effects of Substance Use on You and Your Baby

Many kinds of substances can affect you and your baby during pregnancy. Always talk with a health professional about any substance you are using while pregnant. Ask your doctor, “Is this safe to take or use while I’m pregnant?”

Legal Substances

Some common legal substances can hurt your pregnancy and the health of your baby. Drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes during pregnancy increases the risk of:

  • Miscarriage, losing your pregnancy before birth
  • Pre-term birth, giving birth too early
  • Stillbirth, when a baby is born but not alive
  • Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
  • Birth defects
  • Learning and physical disabilities

Alcohol

Alcohol use during pregnancy can cause learning and physical disabilities known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs).

Cigarettes and Vapes (e-cigarettes)

Smoking cigarettes can hurt your baby’s lungs and brain, lasting until their teen years. Smoking doubles your risk of bleeding during pregnancy and delivery. This can be dangerous for you and your baby. Smoking can also make it harder to get pregnant.

Vapes (e-cigarettes) can have similar effects. While scientists are still learning about its full effects, vaping is linked to serious issues like lung disease, cancer, and seizures.

Marijuana (Cannabis)

Chemicals in marijuana, like THC, pass from you to your baby. The chemicals can harm your baby whether you smoke or eat marijuana, in any amount. Using marijuana raises the carbon monoxide in your blood. This means your baby gets less oxygen, which can hurt their growth. Marijuana use during and after pregnancy may lead to learning and behavioral problems in children.

Prescription Medicines

If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, talk with your doctor about any medicines you are taking. Taking medicine during pregnancy is common. Ask if yours are safe to take while pregnant or breastfeeding. 

Take any medicine from your doctor exactly how they tell you to. Stopping some medicines can hurt your pregnancy. Talk with your doctor before starting or stopping any medicines. Don’t take medicine with someone else’s name on it. 

If you are taking more medicine than prescribed, get help quickly. Ask your doctor for help to quit safely.

Opioids

Prescription opioids are medicines to help with intense pain. You may know the names of some: codeine, oxycodone (oxy), hydrocodone, morphine, and fentanyl. Opioids are highly addictive. They are more likely to cause substance use disorder than other medicines. Sometimes people with substance use disorder who take prescription opioids go on to take heroin, which is also an opioid.

If you take opioids, work closely with your doctor. Some might be safe with medical supervision. Others can be as harmful to your baby as non-medical substances. It depends on your unique situation.

Help is available.

If you, a friend, or a family member needs help with substance use, call one of these toll-free numbers:

  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Helpline: 800-662-HELP (4357)
  • National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Hope Line: 800-622-2255

Non-medical Substances (Drugs)

Non-medical substances are never safe during pregnancy or breastfeeding. These include:

Using non-medical substances can cause problems for you and your baby during pregnancy and birth, including:

  • Miscarriage
  • Pre-term birth
  • Stillbirth
  • Problems with your placenta
  • Low birthweight — a baby born weighing less than expected may need extra medical help after birth to stay healthy
  • Heart problems
  • Birth defects

Using non-medical substances while pregnant can also affect a baby after they are born. A baby might experience:

  • Withdrawal, from some substances like opioids, because they are no longer getting the substance from the womb
  • Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
  • Growing slower than they should
  • Learning problems
  • Behavior problems

Stopping Substances During Pregnancy

Stopping a substance all at once — sometimes called stopping “cold turkey” — can be dangerous to you and your baby. Talk with a doctor before stopping a medicine or substance. Your doctor may recommend that you take medications along with counseling to help you reduce substance use.

If you’re using opioids, talk with your health care provider now. Never stop taking an opioid before talking with your health care professional. Quitting opioids quickly can cause serious problems for you and your baby. There are special ways to help pregnant women quit opioid use. Ask for help from your health care professional when you are ready to quit. There are medicines to help reduce dependence on opioids but are safe to take during pregnancy, such as methadone and suboxone.

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