As more states legalize marijuana, pregnant women and their doctors grapple with how to talk about it

As more states legalize marijuana, more women are talking to their doctors about pot use during pregnancy — and obstetricians are grappling with the best way to have that conversation.

“Women are much more forthcoming about reporting. But we’ve changed the way that we ask as well,” said Dr. Camille Hoffman-Shuler, an OB-GYN at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus who has studied marijuana use in pregnancy.

Obstetricians say it’s critical that providers start asking women explicitly about marijuana use in pregnancy, because many women don’t consider marijuana a drug and won’t disclose using it when a provider asks broadly about drug use or smoking.

“It’s important to ask, just like we ask whether you drink alcohol, ‘Do you smoke marijuana or use a CBD cream?’ It’s