Marijuana And Pregnancy: Ohio Mom Loses Custody Of Baby For Drinking Marijuana-Based Tea While Pregnant
An Ohio mother’s decision to use a marijuana-based tea to reduce her morning sickness has led to her and her husband losing custody of the infant.
Hollie Sanford told Fox 8 that she was suffering from such extreme morning sickness and nerve pain that she and doctors had begun to examine her options. Doctors wanted to prescribe opiates for her pain, but Hollie feared becoming addicted and worried what the impact of the drugs on her fetus would be. After researching the marijuana-based tea, she and her husband Daniel decided the tea was a safer, more natural option for both mother and fetus.
“We did research and the THC, the psychoactive element, doesn’t reach the baby after it’s metabolized through my body,” Hollie said to Fox 8. “So it’s not like the baby is stoned like people might think.”
The baby girl they named Nova was born Sept. 26 and was “very healthy at birth,” according to court records.
The Sanford’s attorney, Joseph Jacobs, said a drug test was wrongly performed on the baby at Fairview Hospital. Screenings are normally run on those relying on public assistance or Medicaid for their hospital services, but the Jacobs said the Sanfords are not on public assistance and have private insurance.
“They never even asked us,” Hollie said. “They tested my baby’s diaper with the meconium stool.”
The stool tested positive for a by-product of marijuana, though records show that there was “no evidence the child was exposed to THC or suffered from withdrawal.”
The couple said that didn’t seem to matter to the hospital, who had a case worker come in and tell the Sanfords they could not take their daughter home. Nova was placed with a relative with the help of their attorney, while they continue to fight the custody battle in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court.
"If people want to say I’m a terrible parent, that’s their right," Hollie told the Plain Dealer. "I did my research and I felt like what I was doing was safe. I know in my heart that I’m an excellent mother. What happened should not have caused my baby to be taken from me."
They said that Magistrate Eleanore Hilow wouldn’t listen to evidence about the tea, or to the opinions of case workers who recommended the baby stay with her parents. According to court records, Hilow determined “removal necessary” because of “immediate or threatened physical or emotional harm.”
The hearing is scheduled for December, but in the meantime Hollie and Daniel are visiting Nova every day.
“It’s very hard,” Hollie said. “We’re just trying to be optimistic and count our blessings; that’s what keeps us going. I do not have a dependency issue. I am not addicted to marijuana, as has been clearly shown with my clean drug tests.”