July 13, 2001

Pregnancy A
great deal of medical, governmental,
and media attention has been given
to the use of illicit drugs by pregnant
and Illicit women because of risks to unborn children.1, 2
The 1999 National Household Survey on

Drug Use Drug Abuse (NHSDA) includes information

on the past month use of illicit drugs among
women aged 15 to 44 who reported that they
were pregnant at the time of the interview.3
In Brief
Prevalence of Illicit Drug Use
● In 1999, almost 4 percent of
The 1999 NHSDA estimated that almost 4
pregnant women used illicit percent of pregnant females aged 15 to 44
drugs in the past month, of used illicit drugs (i.e., marijuana, including
whom the majority used hashish; cocaine, including crack; heroin;
marijuana. hallucinogens, including PCP and LSD;
inhalants; or any prescription-type psycho-
● The rate of illicit drug use therapeutic used nonmedically) during the
among pregnant women was month before the survey.4 Of these, 3.4
percent of pregnant females aged 15 to 44
half the rate among women
had used a single illicit drug in the past month,
who were not pregnant. and 0.3 percent had used two or more drugs.
Past month illicit drug use among pregnant
● Younger pregnant women
women (4 percent) was half the rate among
were more likely to use illicit nonpregnant women (8 percent).
drugs than older pregnant Marijuana was the most widely used illicit
women. drug among pregnant women in 1999, with
an estimated 2.8 percent reporting past
month use (Figure 1). An estimated
0.9 percent of pregnant women reported the
nonmedical use of one or more prescription
psychotherapeutic drugs in the past month.
The NHSDA Report is published periodically by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA). All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission from SAMHSA.
Additional copies of this report may be downloaded from http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/facts.cfm. Citation of the source is appreciated. Other
reports from the Office of Applied Studies are also available on-line: http://www.DrugAbuseStatistics.samhsa.gov/.
NHSDA REPORT: PREGNANCY AND ILLICIT DRUG USE July 13, 2001

Figure 1. Percentages Reporting Past Month Use Figure 2. Percentages Reporting Past Month Use of
of Illicit Drugs Among Pregnant Females Illicit Drugs Among Females Aged 15 to 44, by
Aged 15 to 44: 1999* Pregnancy Status and Age Group: 1999*

5 15

Percent Reporting Past Month

13.1
Percent Reporting

4 3.7
Past Month Use

Use of Illicit Drugs

3 2.8 10
7.6 7.1
2
0.9 4.9
1 5 3.7
0.2 0.1
0 1.6
sh
*

tic n y

ns

ne
g*

hi

ai
eu f A

ge
lu **
ru

0
oc
as

*
no
D

ap o

C
H

er s e

ci
it

Total 15–25 26–44

ic

th U
Il l

an

al
ho al
y

Age Group
na

yc dic
An

ua

Ps me
ij
ar

on

Pregnant Not Pregnant

M

An estimated 0.2 percent of had lower rates of past month illicit currently pregnant women (3
pregnant women had used drug use than their peers (Figure 3).5 percent) and new mothers (3 percent)
hallucinogens in the past month, However, the rate of past month was similar and was half the rate for
and 0.1 percent had used cocaine. illicit drug use among pregnant all nonpregnant females aged 15 to
black women (7 percent) was not 44 (6 percent). However, for illicit
significantly different from the rate drugs other than marijuana, the rate
Age Differences among black women who were not of past month use was higher for
The rate of past month illicit drug pregnant (8 percent). Pregnant black new mothers (3 percent) compared
use among pregnant women was women were 4.5 times more likely to to currently pregnant women (1
higher for females aged 15 to 25 (7 have used illicit drugs in the past percent). The rate for new mothers
percent) compared to women aged month than white pregnant women. was also lower than the rate for all
26 to 44 (2 percent). These nonpregnant women.
percentages translate to approxi- Illicit Drug Use Among New
mately 66,000 pregnant females Summary
Mothers
aged 15 to 25 who were past month
illicit drug users compared to 25,000 The lower rate of illicit drug use According to the 1999 NHSDA, the
pregnant women aged 26 to 44. reported during pregnancy rate of illicit drug use among
Among females aged 15 to 25, the continued during the first year after pregnant females aged 15 to 44 was
rate of illicit drug use among those women gave birth (Figure 4). half the rate for nonpregnant
who were pregnant was half of the Approximately 5 percent of new women, but an estimated 91,000
rate for those who were not mothers (females aged 15 to 44 who pregnant women had used illicit
pregnant. Among women aged 26 to had a child younger than 1 year old) drugs in the month before the
44, the rate of illicit drug use among reported using an illicit drug in the survey. Marijuana was the drug
pregnant women was one third of past month, which was significantly most frequently used, followed by the
the rate for nonpregnant women. less than the rate for all nonpregnant nonmedical use of prescription
women. The rate of any illicit drug psychotherapeutic drugs. Younger
use was similar between new mothers pregnant women were more likely to
Racial/Ethnic Differences and currently pregnant women. This use illicit drugs than older pregnant
In 1997 and 1998, white and His- same pattern held for past month women. In 1997 and 1998, illicit
panic women who were pregnant use of marijuana; the rate among drug use was higher among black
July 13, 2001 NHSDA REPORT: PREGNANCY AND ILLICIT DRUG USE

Figure 3. Percentages Reporting Past Month Illicit Figure 4. Percentages Reporting Past Month Illicit
Drug Use Among Females Aged 15 to 44, by Preg- Drug Use Among Females Aged 15 to 44, by
nancy Status and Race/Ethnicity: 1997 and 1998**** Pregnancy and Recent Motherhood Status: 1999*

15 15
Percent Reporting Past Month

Percent Reporting
Past Month Use
Use of Illicit Drugs

10

7.6
10

5.5
7.6 8.1

4.5
7.2

3.7

3.6
5

2.8
2.6

2.5
5.3

1.2
5
3.0 0
1.6 Any Illicit Marijuana Any Illicit Drug
Drug** Other Than
0 Marijuana*****
White Black Hispanic All Nonpregnant Women
Race/Ethnicity Pregnant Women
Pregnant Not Pregnant Women With Child Younger Than 1 Year Old

pregnant women than white they reflect use only in the past month, not
during the entire pregnancy. The estimated The National Household Survey on Drug
pregnant women; the rate for numbers of illicit drug users reflect the Abuse (NHSDA) is an annual survey spon-
pregnant black women was similar numbers of users among women who were sored by the Substance Abuse and Mental
pregnant at the time of the survey, not among Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
to the rate for nonpregnant black all women who were pregnant in 1999. The 1999 data are based on information
women. The rate of marijuana use 5
obtained from nearly 70,000 persons aged 12
The numbers of pregnant women of different or older, including 832 pregnant females aged
among women who had a child demographic groups who reported using illicit 15 to 25 and 305 pregnant women aged 26 to
younger than 1 year old was lower drugs in any 1 year were insufficient for an 44. The survey collects data by administering
analysis. To ensure adequate precision of questionnaires to a representative sample of
than the rate for all nonpregnant estimates for pregnant women, the presented the population through face-to-face interviews
females aged 15 to 44, indicating data represent annual average estimates for at their place of residence.
that the lower rate of marijuana use 1997 and 1998 combined.
The NHSDA Report is prepared by the Office
reported during pregnancy contin- of Applied Studies (OAS), SAMHSA, and by
RTI in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
ues in the year after giving birth. Figure Notes
Information and data for this issue are based
The rate for illicit drugs other than *Data presented may differ from previously on the following publication and statistics:
marijuana was higher among women published data from the 1999 NHSDA because Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
who had recently given birth than of corrections made to imputation procedures. Administration. (2000) Summary of findings
**Any Illicit Drug indicates use at least once of from the 1999 National Household Survey on
for currently pregnant women. Drug Abuse (DHHS Publication No. SMA 00-
marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack),
inhalants, hallucinogens (including PCP and 3466, NHSDA Series H-12). Rockville, MD:
LSD), heroin, or any prescription-type Author.
End Notes
psychotherapeutic used nonmedically. Also available on-line: http://
1
Smeriglio, V.L. & Wilcox, H.C. (1999). Prenatal ***Nonmedical use of any prescription-type pain www.DrugAbuseStatistics.samhsa.gov.
drug exposure and child outcome: Past, reliever, tranquilizer, stimulant or sedative; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
present, future. Clinical Perinatology, 26(1),1-16. does not include over-the-counter drugs. Administration. (2000) National Household
2
Cornelius, M.D., Day, N.L., Richardson, G.A., & ****Data were combined over 2 years because in a Survey on Drug Abuse: Main findings 1998
Taylor, P.M. (1999). Epidemiology of substance single year there were too few pregnant women (DHHS Publication No. SMA 00-3381, NHSDA
abuse during pregnancy. In P.J. Ott & R.E. reporting illicit drug use to permit an analysis. Series H-11). Rockville, MD: Author.
Tarter (Eds.), Sourcebook on substance abuse:
*****Any Illicit Drug Other Than Marijuana indi- Additional tables available upon request.
Etiology, epidemiology, assessment, and
treatment (pp. 1-13). Needham Heights, MA: cates use at least once of cocaine (including
Allyn & Bacon, Inc. crack), inhalants, hallucinogens (including PCP
3
and LSD), heroin, or any prescription-type psy-
Except for women who had been pregnant for chotherapeutic used nonmedically; marijuana/
less than 1 month, this information on past hashish users who also have used any of the
month use indicates use during pregnancy. other drugs listed are included.
4
Note that these estimates of illicit drug use Source (Figs. 1, 2, and 4) : SAMHSA 1999 NHSDA.
during pregnancy are conservative because
Source (Fig. 3) : SAMHSA 1998 NHSDA.