“Digging in”: stigma and surveillance in the lives of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers who consume cannabis

Since the shift to legalizing recreational cannabis use in Canada in 2018, there has been increased attention on the consequences of cannabis use on women’s reproductive and maternal health, with particular attention to the impact of cannabis in utero and through breastfeeding. This has resulted in an intense focus on the behaviors of individuals who consume cannabis during the perinatal period, which raises questions about the impact this has on women and mothers who have historically been under the surveillance of the Canadian public health, health and social care, and legal systems. Grounded in an intersectional feminist framework that acknowledges how race, ability, class, and other social positions impact and differentiate women’s experience, this paper presents findings emerging from a participatory arts-based research approach called Photovoice with 23 mothers living throughout Canada. All participants consumed cannabis during pregnancy and breastfeeding and illustrated through photographs and individual and group discussion how their experiences of intersectional stigma and surveillance by health and social care providers resulted in barriers to accessing cannabis-related information and support. Implications arising from our inquiry suggest there is a dire need for public health, perinatal care, and social care responses that run counter to the current context where stigma and fear prevent parents from accessing cannabis information and support.