MCH Digest

Support for Pregnancy with Cannabis Cessation

By Tessa Crume, PhD MSPH, Associate Professor at the Colorado School of Public Health

The Baby and Me Tobacco Free Program (BMTFP) is developing and piloting a cannabis cessation module for pregnant people to address nicotine and cannabis co-use. The cannabis cessation module addresses a growing need in Colorado. Data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) indicate that combustible tobacco use is decreasing among pregnant people while use of vaped nicotine and cannabis is rising. Importantly, co-use of nicotine and cannabis among pregnant people is rising. Studies have shown that co-use of nicotine and cannabis may impede one’s ability to stop using nicotine, and may contribute to a higher risk of returning to use after cessation. Research shows that pregnant people may use cannabis products for many reasons, including the management of mental health symptoms (e.g., anxiety), pain, nausea, and/or pre-pregnancy use. In addition, cannabis and nicotine use (individual use or co-use) during pregnancy are highly correlated with traumatic stress. People with a history of traumatic stress are an underserved population that can benefit from a trauma-informed cessation approach provided by the BMTFP intervention.

The cannabis cessation module is focused on risk reduction. This model will be used to help pregnant people decrease or stop cannabis during their pregnancy and up to three months post-partum, and to support perinatal people in managing stress, anxiety, and other underlying conditions. The module does not have an official release date yet, but the program facilitators are motivated to make the program available to the public as soon as January 1, 2025. The pilot study of the cannabis cessation and co-use model will begin enrolling participants from Denver Health and University of Colorado Hospital in January 2025 with the goal to determine the efficacy of the program as well as collect process evaluation data to optimize the approach. 

We are seeking individuals with lived experience with tobacco, vaped nicotine, or cannabis use before or during pregnancy for our advisory board. Participation is confidential and advisory group members will receive gift cards in recognition of their time and expertise. Any questions about participation can be directed to Theresa Anderson.



Additional guidance on addressing cannabis use during pregnancy and lactation.

What Content Would You Like to See in the MCH Digest?

The MCH Program would like to make sure that the information we share in the Digest is informative and helpful to our MCH partners. Based on feedback, we have plans to add a section on funding/grants. Is there anything else you would like us to include? 

Please email any ideas to Risa Friedman.

Events

APHA 2024 Annual Meeting & Expo. October 27 - 30, 2024. Minneapolis, MN. 

AMCHP. March 15 - 18, 2025. Washington, D.C.

Training

2024 Health Links Webinar Series

Join us for our upcoming webinar series! We're covering highly-requested topics ranging from psychological preparedness to ageism in the workplace. Click the link to register.

• Food@Work: A Total Worker Health® Approach to Healthy Eating. November 20, 2024.

• Violence@Work: A Total Worker Health® Approach to Physical and Psychological Safety in the Workplace. December 10, 2024.

News & Updates

Public Health in the Rockies

Last month, Adelina Parral, Lyz Riley Sanders, Reid Bryan and Sarah Kay Moore presented at Public Health in the Rockies. They shared the process and results from the Listening Tour. Several LPHA and community partners were in the room to hear the hot-off-the-press selection of the NPMs.

LPHA Corner

For many years, the El Paso County Public Health team has been offering Trauma-informed training based on the Neurosequential Model from Dr. Bruce Perry. Paula Hergert and other staff have trained many individuals over time but focus on offering the training to schools, early childhood professionals and youth-serving organizations. Recent evaluation of the program showed the overwhelming majority of the participants felt the content was useful and valuable to their work in understanding how children with trauma show up and need extra support to strengthen protector factors and build resilience. The majority of participants also intended to bring the skills into their work, with around two thirds working with many different children or youth. Amazing work El Paso team!

Newsletters

• Colorado Children’s Campaign KidsFlash Blog 
• ECOP's (Early Childhood Obesity Prevention) 9 Ways to Grow Healthy Colorado Kids Newsletter
• Family Matters Newsletter
• HCP Blast 
• Human Impact Partners News 
• Maternal Wellness Newsletter
• Our Voice: Colorado’s Early Childhood Newsletter 
• Public Health Foundation E-News 
• What's the 411?

Want to read past MCH Digests?

Archived MCH Digests

The Title V Maternal and Child Health Program (MCH) works with statewide partners and local public health agency representatives to improve the health of Coloradans using population-based and infrastructure-building strategies. Our mission is to optimize the health and well-being of mothers and children by employing primary prevention and early intervention public health strategies.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Colorado Maternal and Child Health Block Grant 6 B04MC45202. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.

State of Colorado Accessibility Statement