A new study from The Journal of the American Medical Association finds a slight increase in the number of pregnant women it surveyed who used marijuana to relieve nausea or pregnancy-related anxiety.

The survey used data between 2009 and 2016 from about 300,000 pregnant women in California through a large health care system in the state. Marijuana usage was determined from urine toxicology tests and self reporting.

The results show that pot use rose from 4.2% to 7.1% during the period of study. In addition, the rate of marijuana usage was more pronounced among younger pregnant women. For those younger than 18, it went up from 12.5% to 21.8%. For those between the ages of 18 and 24, pot usage went up close to 10%, from 9.8% to 19%.

Guest host Alex Cohen discusses the findings with study author Kelly Young-Wolff, and Dr. Allison Bond and Dr. Leena Nathan.

Guests:

Kelly Young-Wolff, PhD, MPH, clinical psychologist and research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research; she is the lead author of the JAMA letter “Trends in Self-reported and Biochemically Tested Marijuana Use Among Pregnant Females in California From 2009-2016”

Allison Bond M.D., medical writer and hospitalist in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston

Leena Nathan, M.D., OB-GYN and assistant clinical professor at UCLA Health