Hyperemesis Gravidarum by Nicole Metheney
(*Comment from Dr. Grinspoon follows)

I am twenty-two years old and had been smoking pot since

I was seventeen.  At nineteen I became pregnant.  Believing I would be giving my baby a better chance, I stopped smoking as soon as I found out.

Then the morning sickness started, and after that I got a cold that lasted two months, in the process losing over fifteen pounds. I couldn't get out of bed in the morning without vomiting, I had no hunger for food and when I did eat it always came back up.

Since I had smoked before, I knew that marijuana gave me an appetite and calmed my upset stomach.  So after months of hell I lit up again.  And let me tell you, everything changed.  As long as I smoked some before I got up, there was not vomiting.  When I smoked I got hungry--no more problem with eating.  The difference that it made in my life was tremendous.  My weight started to come back.  My morning sickness was now bearable.  Seeing the difference it made now, should I ever get pregnant again I'll not stop smoking.

By the way, my daughter was born on time at a healthy birth weight and she has no health problems.

 *Comment

 Hyperemesis gravidarum is a rare disorder characterized by a greatly heightened form of morning sickness in which the sufferer has nearly constant nausea and vomiting throughout pregnancy.  In the past, abortion was sometimes necessary to save the woman’s life.  More recently these women have been hospitalized and fed intravenously.  Some have now discovered that they can smoke marijuana daily instead – a practice that probably poses less risk to the fetus than the alternatives of prolonged intravenous feeding or standard antiemetic drugs.