Can a newborn baby test positive for marijuana if the mother wasn't? the mother was always closed up with boyfriend & he smoked constantly but she never did while she was pregnant & never tested postive during th whole pregnancy.

That : That would be unlikely. The amount of heavy, continual cannabis smoke without ventilation that would be required would make this very unlikely. If the mother exposed herself to this, she was not prudent. It is more likely that the mother used cannabis.

Possible: Am unaware of any studies on this particular topic. They usually test the baby's first stool - meconium - and this accumulates pretty much everything for most of the pregnancy that the baby has taken in, and it is possible that repeated exposures over a long period of time, if they were heavy enough exposures could do this.

Possible/unlikely: You would only be tested if for some reason you end up on the risk list and they look.Babies first poo can contain traces of drug exposure as far back as several months, and those tests are looking for any, not the amount. Heavy drug use by one parent might get you into problems with the Child and family services anyway.They would notice the smell.

I : I agree with dr. Bird. I hope that the baby is not continuing to be exposed to marijuana now that it is born. It is one of the mother's responsibilities to protect the baby from unhealthy chemicals.

Mom's : Mom's and babies have different clearance of medications so they may be different in terms of positive and negative. However a baby gets nothing their mother doesn't. So for a baby to be positive the mother would have to be at some time. Good luck!

Testing differences: When I test a baby I do so o n their 1st poo, which can retain any evidence of drug exposure for the preceding months. Mother doesn't have to be a smoker for 2nd hand smoke to turn baby positive. In my state, baby would go home in foster care and the next year or more would be a nightmare for everyone.