I got high while pregnant, had a home birth so I could smoke cannabis DURING labour & rub it on my toddlers’ gums too
Biba Tanya didn't just smoke during pregnancy - she smoked during LABOUR.
The 39-year-old former law student and air stewardess from Clitheroe, Lancs., admitted to smoking pure cannabis when expecting all three of her children.
And with her youngest, Lola, two, she actually organised a home birth so she could light up while in labour.
Sun doctor Carol Cooper does not recommend it, but Biba is undeterred.
She now tells her shocking story:
"Feeling the contraction hit I sat up in my bed and reached for my lighter.
I'd pre-rolled three cannabis joints using pot I’d got from a friend a week earlier in preparation for labour.
My husband Kevin Lyncheshaun, 60, an engineer, was downstairs filling the birthing pool with water.
By the time I was sitting in the birthing pool preparing for the birth of my third child, with just my husband and no midwife to help, I was as high as a kite.
Lola, now two, was born perfectly healthy weighing 8lb 1oz after just 90 minutes in the pool.
What does Dr Carol Cooper say?
Sun medic Dr Carol Cooper warns Biba should stop - explaining that while research into the impact of smoking marijuana while pregnant is limited, the dangers include increased risk of stillbirth, low birth weight and premature birth.
Dr Cooper told Fabulous Digital: "Cannabis has long been recognised to help nausea in patients having chemotherapy, by working directly on the vomiting centres in the brain. It also works on the gut to slow it down.
"So perhaps it's no surprise to find many mums-to-be turning to marijuana for morning sickness.
"There's very little research into its use in pregnancy, but studies so far suggest that smoking weed can trigger premature labour and interfere with the baby's growth in the womb. It may also raise the risk of cot death."
"Research using rats shows that marijuana affects the kind of proteins and fats that make up the brain, and that could have serious far-reaching results on their offspring, especially their learning and memory."
"At the moment, I think it's unwise for any pregnant woman to use marijuana.
"We just don't know enough about the risks to the baby."
Current NHS guidelines on smoking tobacco while pregnant warn the risks are very real.
Babies exposed to tobacco smoke in their mum's womb are on average 8oz lighter than other newborns.
"They are more likely to have problems keeping warm and are more likely to get infections," the NHS advises.
On top of this Biba is risking legal problems - police can issue a warning or on-the-spot fine of £90 if you're found with cannabis.
I didn’t want anyone but Kevin there because they would not have allowed me to smoke during the birth.
He cut the cord and wrapped her in a towel while I enjoyed the euphoric afterglow of giving birth while smoking cannabis.
It was the easiest, most natural and pleasurable birth I’d ever experienced.
When I delivered the afterbirth Kevin cut off a small segment of the placenta, put it in a blender with some cannabis leaves and oil, berries and orange juice.
He whizzed me up a placenta and cannabis smoothie.
Then I breastfed Lola.
It was four days before we took her to the GP for her first check and since then she hasn’t been back.
I know many people will be shocked that I smoked while giving birth.
I am sure many of you will be horrified at the thought of someone high on cannabis birthing a baby, let alone breastfeeding her.
However for me it makes perfect sense.
And I am only too happy to admit I also smoked cannabis during all three of my pregnancies.
It was the right decision for me because my kids are all happy, healthy and meeting all their milestones.
However, my first husband James* wasn’t happy about it.
After I discovered I was expecting in 2004 with Seb, now 15, I was constantly anxious and sick.
I didn’t want to take pills offered by the GP and, having tried weed in the past, opted for that.
To me it wasn’t a drug so much as a natural remedy used to treat pain, anxiety and nausea.
Why is smoking cannabis bad for babies?
A major report into cannabis has been carried out by the the , the US news website explained.
Experts reviewed studies between 1999 and 2016 and found cannabis could help relieve symptoms for chronic pain, multiple sclerosis and cancer patients.
But there were links between smoking cannabis and developing psychosis and schizophrenia.
Plus people can suffer respiratory problems when smoking it.
The report looked into smoking cannabis and pregnancy and there were suggestions babies exposed to cannabis in pregnancy had lower birth weights.
“But what we couldn’t say is whether that’s a direct effect of marijuana or of smoking,” explained , a professor of maternal and child health at Harvard and chair of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) committee that put out the report told Vox.
“Clearly you can say, ‘Don’t smoke during pregnancy no matter what you’re smoking.’
"But for the remainder, it’s the precautionary principle: Until we know more you probably shouldn’t do it.”
It made perfect sense I should use it to treat my pregnancy anxiety and morning sickness.
During the first 12 weeks I’d have a joint every couple of weeks.
But James thought I was reckless so I’d have to sneak out and hide my joint in my pregnancy bra.
When Seb arrived at hospital in November 2004 he weighed 7lb 12 oz and was perfectly healthy.
After James and I split up, I met Kevin in 2012 through a family friend.
He whizzed me up a placenta and cannabis smoothie.
Biba Tanya
He was relaxed about my use of cannabis.
He knew I was an intelligent, educated mother who understood the therapeutic value of it.
In October 2013 I fell pregnant and smoked it again after being diagnosed with the same illness Kate Middleton suffered with, hyperemesis gravidarum, the severe form of morning sickness.
I was vomiting up to 40 times a day and couldn’t keep food down.
My throat was red raw from retching, I could barely speak and I felt dreadful.
Instead of popping pills I would roll a joint and after a few puffs my vomiting eased.
My appetite returned and I kept a joint in my bra, at the ready for when I needed it.
I smoked three to four times every day.
Kevin was supportive but he admitted he was having to re-programme his brain to accept looking at a pregnant woman smoking.
It goes against everything society tells you - so I didn’t tell my midwife or doctor.
By the time I was sitting in the birthing pool preparing for the birth of my third child, with just my husband and no midwife to help, I was as high as a kite.
Biba Tanya
Tabitha, now five, was born in June 2014.
It was a six hour labour and she weighed 6lb 12oz.
Since then she has thrived and met all her milestones.
Now all my kids are healthy.
When they were teething I used cannabis oil on their gums… the full strength kind.
When they’d get upset or take a tumble a few drops of full strength cannabis oil did the trick too. .
It’s a miracle plant.
I know I will be accused of being 'pot mum' raising 'pot kids'.
I know people will tell me I am a lunatic and my actions made the babies in my belly high.
I now want cannabis to be available to all women during pregnancy and made available on the NHS during childbirth.
I am the UK’s pot mum and I am proud of that title."
What's the law on possessing cannabis?
Earlier this month two cannabis-based medicines were cleared for NHS use for the first time.
Epidyolex is recommended for two rare types of epilepsy while the spray Sativex can ease muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis.
But regulators say there is not enough evidence to approve cannabis-based drugs for chronic pain.
Campaigners have welcomed the go-ahead but said thousands of other people who could benefit from cannabis-based medicines were left in limbo.
Millie Hinton, from the group End Our Pain, said it had been “a massive missed opportunity”.
Last year, it was made legal for doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis.
However, many have been reluctant to do so, citing a lack of guidance and costing concerns.
It has forced some families to buy the drugs abroad and bring them into the UK illegally.
You can get up to five years in prison, an unlimited fine or both for possessing cannabis.
Most read in real life
This young mum was driven to the brink of abortion with severe morning sickness – that made her vomit 90 times a DAY.
Meanwhile this mum-to-be suffered extreme morning sickness – causing her to vomit 20 TIMES a day.