Is It Safe To Use Magic Mushrooms While Pregnant? One Woman’s Quest Raises Questions

When Mikaela recovered retired she was pregnant six years ago, she knew she needed to extremity drinking. What she wasn’t judge astir was really she would negociate nan cravings.

As a teenager, she had discovered that intoxicant and opiates could dull traumatic memories, including recurrent intersexual assaults that played successful her mind nonstop and led to suicidal thoughts. But arsenic she entered her 20s, eager to reside her intelligence health, she realized what helped astir was psilocybin.

Mikaela had recovered her measurement to psilocybin, nan psychedelic compound progressive successful “magic” mushrooms, pinch adjacent friends astatine nan property of 19. A fewer ample doses a year, pinch smaller microdoses successful between, helped her execute a consciousness of calm, for illustration nan bad travel that had been her full life earlier mushrooms had ended.

She besides noticed they lessened her cravings for alcohol. Instead of picking up a brew erstwhile she would crave one, she tried microdosing. Indeed, caller research has shown that psilocybin whitethorn beryllium a promising curen for intoxicant usage disorder: successful a 2022 study, psilocybin mixed pinch therapy helped proceedings participants importantly trim their drinking for nan 8 months researchers conducted follow-ups.

She scoured nan net for information, unsure those mushrooms were safe for her pregnancy. At nan aforesaid time, she knew she needed to extremity drinking. Under nary circumstances did she want her kid to turn up pinch an alcoholic genitor – for illustration she had.

As her Google searches brought up dormant extremity aft dormant end, Mikaela, who has Indigenous Mexican ancestry, reached retired to an Indigenous woman-led group that conducted ceremonies utilizing works medicines specified arsenic baccy and peyote. The group was coordinating a psilocybin ceremony, wherever participants were readying to ingest mushrooms nether nan guidance of an elder, a fewer hours northbound of her successful California successful a fewer weeks’ time. Mikaela asked if nan female who was starring it, a grandma from Jalisco, Mexico, had immoderate penetration into whether participating would beryllium harmful to her pregnancy. The female told Mikaela that successful her tradition, mothers continued consuming works medicines specified arsenic psilocybin passim their pregnancies and into motherhood. Mikaela packed up her car and drove retired to nan gathering.

Under nan canopy of a redwood grove, Mikaela accepted nan caller mushrooms nan grandma had prepared for her. As nan sun began to set, Mikaela’s regard wandered from nan campfire earlier her to nan stars above, and she fell into an hours-long meditation.

After giving commencement to a patient babe boy, Mikaela wondered if Indigenous knowledge astir works medicines could beryllium transmitted to different mothers battling intelligence wellness challenges during pregnancy. Photograph: DJA/The Guardian

Sitting astir a campfire nan adjacent day, nan grandma placed her hands connected Mikaela’s visibly pregnant belly and shared a connection pinch her and nan different participants.

“She talked very openly astir nan meaningfulness of carrying children and our work arsenic parents and mothers, and what it intends to take to beryllium a mom astatine this time,” said Mikaela, now 31.

Mikaela went connected to usage psilocybin, successful some microdoses and afloat doses, passim her gestation and since. She credits it pinch helping her create “a repulsion to nan alcohol”, she said, and to nan societal spaces wherever it was consumed.

Soon aft she gave commencement to a patient babe boy, she group retired to find nan answers she had been looking for. She knew researchers did not usually look for illustration her aliases inquire questions for illustration hers, but she wondered if Indigenous knowledge astir works medicines could beryllium transmitted to different mothers battling intelligence wellness challenges during gestation – and were struggling to find answers.

“Ethical constraints person constricted objective studies connected psilocybin usage among individuals successful childbearing years, peculiarly during gestation and breastfeeding,” she wrote successful a “community investigation paper” surveying 411 group who utilized psilocybin before, during aliases aft their pregnancies published earlier this year. “This spread successful research, compounded by nan lingering stigma surrounding psychedelics, has near mothers to navigate their choices successful isolation.”

In nan paper, Mikaela uses nan pseudonym “de la Myco”, aliases “of nan mushroom”, successful spot of her past name, citing nan stigma and ineligible concerns associated pinch psychedelic use. (Psilocybin is still classified arsenic a schedule 1 supplier nether national law, though it has been decriminalized by respective states.) She besides uses nan pseudonym connected societal media, wherever she has upwards of 200,000 followers and has built a marque offering guided psychedelic journeys, trading herbal commencement power remedies and sharing her parenting experience. Alongside posts describing really to usage a Queen Anne’s Lace tincture and different herbs, she describes her preparations for ingesting mushrooms and really they person deepened her spirituality. She besides shares videos showing her playing, cooking and talking astir feelings pinch her son, successful consequence to comments that she “better believe that doing that has nary semipermanent effects connected your child”.

Mikaela’s activity seeks to inject nan concerns and knowledge of communities – peculiarly women and Indigenous peoples – that person often been excluded from technological research, but are cardinal to nan history of psychedelic use. At nan aforesaid time, it comes alongside a increasing activity that is mistrustful of modern medicine – and much apt to activity proposal from accessible societal media platforms than unaffordable aliases distant doctors’ offices. And it makes immoderate aesculapian professionals nervous.

Over nan past 2 decades, psychedelics person returned to nan nationalist eye arsenic a increasing assemblage of investigation shows their imaginable benefits successful treating intelligence wellness conditions specified arsenic PTSD, treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, alcoholism and different disorders. In nan United States, hundreds of objective trials person investigated nan aesculapian benefits of psilocybin.

Some researchers stay skeptical of nan drugs’ potential, citing nan biases of researchers and poor study designs. In August past twelvemonth nan Food and Drug Administration rejected an exertion to o.k. nan usage of different psychedelic, MDMA, successful nan curen of PTSD. (In December, nan VA announced that it will still money caller investigation into MDMA-assisted therapy for nan curen of PTSD and alcoholism.)

Given nan setback, it’s imaginable that psilocybin-assisted therapy will summation FDA approval up of MDMA. Three states person already legalized nan usage of psilocybin astatine licensed therapeutic centers – Oregon first successful 2020, followed by Colorado successful 2022 and New Mexico this twelvemonth – while dozens of different cities person decriminalized it.

While ongoing clinical trials indicate that psychedelics, including psilocybin, whitethorn person important applications to nan curen of postpartum depression, very small is known astir their information during pregnancy. Emerging investigation into nan wellness benefits of psychedelics has omitted pregnant group – arsenic has astir investigation connected medicine safety.

Regarding psilocybin, “If we don’t person information, arsenic scientists and arsenic aesculapian people, we would opportunity it’s not safe until we cognize that it is,” said Anita Clayton, a professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences astatine nan University of Virginia schoolhouse of medicine who is presently studying nan usage of a supplier pinch a akin chemic building to psilocybin successful nan curen of postpartum depression. “Because nan facts we person are limited, group capable nan gaps pinch what they want to beryllium true,” Clayton added. “Women besides request to cognize astir imaginable curen options” for intelligence wellness conditions.

In 2023, Mikaela and a UK-based doula, Naomi Tolson, publicized a study collecting nan stories of women who had utilized immoderate magnitude of mushrooms during pregnancy.

The task represents 1 of nan largest collections of experiences connected psilocybin and gestation to date. But not everyone has embraced it.

Photograph: DJA/The Guardian

Drug researchers person agelong taken a protectionist attack to studying medicine information during pregnancy. Their be aware tin beryllium traced to nan thalidomide situation of nan 1950s and early 1960s, erstwhile much than 10,000 babies were calved pinch terrible commencement defects aft their mothers took a wide prescribed tranquilizer for nausea while pregnant. In nan aftermath, alternatively than studying nan impacts of medications connected pregnancy, researchers broadly excluded pregnant group from objective trials. Less than 10% of medications approved by nan Food and Drug Administration since 1980 person capable information to find whether they origin commencement defects.

In nan absence of information from objective trials, researchers person recovered different ways to show medicine information during pregnancy. One of those methods is nan FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System and different ample information registries. When medications are taken wide during gestation – whether a painkiller specified arsenic Tylenol aliases an antidepressant specified arsenic Prozac – researchers measure information done observational data.

Because of that, scientists cognize that galore antidepressants, including astir SSRIs, “do not look to origin important problems successful babies exposed to them”, said Clayton. “Certainly not arsenic overmuch arsenic untreated slump successful pregnancy.”

Researchers person a consciousness of nan hazards of definite much commonly utilized illicit narcotics – specified arsenic cannabis (studies propose that predominant usage whitethorn beryllium connected pinch an accrued chance of adverse outcomes) and fentanyl (which tin origin withdrawal symptoms successful newborns). But nan existing investigation into nan effects of utilizing psilocybin during gestation is highly limited.

Studies person not been done to spot if taking magic mushrooms tin summation nan chance of pregnancy-related problems aliases commencement defects, notes a truth expanse from MotherToBaby, a web of assemblage and infirmary researchers who way accusation connected medicine usage during pregnancy. One animal study did show that psilocybin crossed nan placental obstruction and accumulated successful fetal insubstantial successful rats, but investigation hasn’t been done to measure whether that’s existent successful humans and if it could consequence successful developmental issues. Because psilocybin interacts pinch serotonin receptors successful nan brain, immoderate have besides theorized that if it crosses nan placental obstruction it could impact fetal encephalon development.

When Oregon legalized nan usage of psilocybin successful licensed centers successful 2020, it bumped up against this spread successful knowledge. Rather than prohibiting pregnant group from ingesting psilocybin, it decided to require centers to complete an informed consent protocol pinch patients, which alerts them that “the risks of consuming psilocybin while pregnant aliases feeding pinch bosom beverage are unknown”.

After she gave commencement to her son, Mikaela began collecting nan constricted accusation she could find astir psychedelics and parenting, and sharing that accusation connected societal media, including Instagram and TikTok. Eventually, the Microdosing Institute, a psychedelics acquisition web focused connected nan believe of taking a dose of psychedelics overmuch smaller than 1 mightiness ingest recreationally – to heighten productivity aliases relieve pain, for illustration – reached retired to perceive much astir her work.

There, she met James Fadiman, a scientist and writer, often called nan “father of microdosing”. Since 2010, Fadiman has interviewed thousands of group who person microdosed psilocybin successful an effort to create a protocol for utilizing mushrooms to dainty communal psychological and beingness complaints. He published what he recovered successful The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide successful 2011.

Neither Fadiman nor Mikaela person psychiatric training – Fadiman holds a PhD successful psychology and Mikaela a bachelor’s successful English lit – but his strategy would pass her ain research. In 2023, she and a UK-based doula publicized a study crossed their networks and societal media platforms. The purpose was to cod nan stories of group who had utilized immoderate magnitude of psilocybin while pregnant aliases parenting. In nickname of nan ethical complexity of conducting investigation during pregnancy, they were clear that they were not encouraging them to ingest mushrooms, but simply documenting their acquisition if they already had.

“They already made nan choice,” said Wendy Shoef, a California-based life coach who later joined nan team. “You’re not a portion of nan process. You conscionable want to get nan accusation from them aft nan fact.”

Earlier this year, nan women released a postulation of nan stories they received truthful far. The study includes nan experiences of 178 group who utilized psilocybin during gestation and 237 who utilized it while breastfeeding. After a information of first responses, Mikaela and her colleagues began asking mothers to study their commencement outcomes, but yet were only capable to stitchery information from 14. (All reported healthy, full-term births, but nan mini number of responses, on pinch nan methodology of nan survey, mean nan results should not beryllium extrapolated much broadly.)

Still, nan task represents 1 of nan largest collections of experiences connected psilocybin and gestation to date. But not everyone has embraced it.

‘You person to beryllium observant not to effort to quantify results successful a qualitative study because you can’t beryllium sure’ whether nan study participants are genuinely representative, said expert Charles Schauberger. Photograph: DJA/The Guardian

“I’m judge you’re doing a awesome occupation of collecting arsenic overmuch information arsenic imaginable and erstwhile you person published this information successful a technological diary we mightiness beryllium willing successful having you stock these results pinch nan public,” a typical of nan Atlanta Mushroom Festival wrote backmost erstwhile Mikaela applied to speak astatine nan yearly gathering successful 2024. “Claiming that it’s OK to devour immoderate psychedelics during gestation is simply a very delicate declare and is not thing we want to beforehand without amended technological backing.”

Clayton, nan University of Virginia professor, worries “the type of information that they’re trying to cod whitethorn not beryllium informative” because it’s not coming from “a wide population” but a web of regular psychedelic users pinch links to Mikaela and her colleagues, which could skew immoderate conclusions. Nor does nan study power for different health-related behaviors connected nan portion of nan participants. She besides notes that it’s difficult to estimate really overmuch psilocybin a personification is consuming erstwhile those mushrooms are purchased extracurricular of a ineligible setting.

Instead, she said, scientists request to behaviour rigorous animal studies first – and that those mightiness uncover whether psilocybin has immoderate effect connected metrics for illustration commencement weight aliases developmental milestones.

Mikaela’s ain biases are clear: she is simply a vocal proponent of psilocybin’s benefits, arsenic are galore of nan women she surveyed, truthful it’s not astonishing that nan survey’s results would beryllium positive, and she knows they cannot beryllium extrapolated much broadly. She calls her activity “an anthropological inquiry” focused little connected occidental standards of subject and much connected storytelling arsenic a measurement to understand people’s experiences.

Charles Schauberger, a Wisconsin-based expert committee certified successful obstetrics and gynecology and addiction medicine, echoes nan idea. He thinks that pinch a willingness to travel definite guidelines, nan group could nutrient an important qualitative study – focused connected subjective experiences alternatively than statistical outcomes aliases nonsubjective markers of babe health.

“You person to beryllium observant not to effort to quantify results successful a qualitative study because you can’t beryllium sure” whether nan study participants are genuinely representative, he said. Instead, he said, researchers mightiness ask: “Did you consciousness for illustration your slump was better? Who did you consult to consciousness comfortable that it was safe to usage psilocybin successful your pregnancy? Did you usage it conscionable once? Did you usage it aggregate times? What are your feelings now that your baby’s calved and you’re nary longer pregnant?”

The answers to those questions mightiness thief researchers creation early quantitative studies, giving them penetration connected wherever to attraction their inquiries. And successful a section pinch a terrible shortage of information, that summation to nan lit could beryllium helpful, he said.

As Mikaela and her collaborators began distributing their survey, they noticed that a attraction connected intelligence wellness was a cardinal thread done nan responses they received.

“I chiefly consumed mushrooms during my gestation pinch my 2nd girl because I was trying to flight an highly toxic environment,” 1 female wrote successful her reply.

“I had a very troubled gestation emotionally. My narration was decaying and I didn’t person nan support strategy I needed astatine nan time,” different female who ingested mushrooms while pregnant shared. “I felt nan calling to microdose to thief maine modulate my tense system.”

Many of nan women reported that they preferred psychedelics to pharmaceuticals arsenic a much earthy alternative.

“I felt terrible slump symptoms for months connected extremity and decided I needed to microdose aliases return an antipsychotic,” different mother who utilized psilocybin during her gestation shared. “The microdose felt safer to me.”

In their report, Mikaela and her co-authors mention breastfeeding mothers who “described emotion much emotionally connected to their babies and much tin of navigating nan challenges of early parenthood pinch calm and clarity”.

“I was capable to beryllium coming and appreciative of my life without stressing astir each I ‘should’ aliases ‘could’ beryllium getting done,” 1 mother wrote.

Many parents besides voiced fears that consuming mushrooms during gestation aliases while breastfeeding their children could onshore them successful a constabulary precinct. As 1 female wrote, she felt awesome “anxiety astir getting my babe taken distant if anyone recovered out”.

The ineligible defense group Pregnancy Justice has documented thousands of cases wherever pregnant group were criminalized complete allegations of constituent usage betwixt 1973 and 2022, though very fewer were related to psychedelics.

‘I americium not advocating for occidental women to do this,’ said Stacy Schaefer, professor emerita successful anthropology astatine California State University, Chico.

But Indigenous communities person been utilizing psychedelics during gestation ‘for generations, possibly centuries’.

Photograph: DJA/The Guardian

Naomi Tolson, nan UK-based doula who helped motorboat nan study, said that fearfulness of criminalization and stigma astir apt constricted nan responses they received. “Even though nan study is anonymous, group still worry,” she said.

Some scientists, specified arsenic Clayton and Anthony Scialli, a master successful developmental and reproductive toxicology and head of nan Reproductive Toxicology Center, interest astir specified efforts playing into nan Trump administration’s full-frontal battle connected nan United States’ technological institutions. Scialli notes a increasing activity of skepticism of pharmaceuticals – skepticism that has been championed by nan US wellness secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.

“If location is investigation retired there” astir psilocybin and pregnancy, “I haven’t seen it,” he said, but, “on astir of nan antidepressants location are galore studies and very bully studies”. Yet, he points to a increasing blimpish backlash against science: “I understand it’s fashionable for group not to judge technological studies. After all, we person a full bunch of group successful nan management who don’t judge successful technological studies.”

For her part, Mikaela calls Kennedy “a complete quack”, but voices tentative appreciation that he has been “open-minded to psychedelics”.

At nan aforesaid time, immoderate psychedelic advocates and scholars reason that location is accusation retired location connected nan information of psychedelics during gestation – it’s conscionable not been formalized successful nan occidental canon. While completing her doctoral investigation successful nan 1980s, Stacy Schaefer, professor emerita successful nan section of anthropology astatine California State University, Chico, joined an Indigenous Mexican community, called nan Wixárika, connected their yearly visit to nan lands wherever they person agelong foraged peyote. “I couldn’t thief but announcement that location were respective women successful nan group, astatine various stages of their pregnancy. And, immoderate of them were nursing their babies,” said Schaefer.

She learned that nan women credited peyote pinch inducing lactation and easing labour pains. And nan usage of psychedelics during gestation was not constricted to nan Wixárika. She would later find that Brazilian women successful nan Santo Daime and União do Vegetal churches regularly devour ayahuasca during pregnancy.

“I americium not advocating for occidental women to do this,” Schaefer said, emphasizing that, arsenic psychedelics summation popularity, it’s captious that practitioners conserve uncommon plants and debar profiting disconnected of Indigenous practices. But Indigenous communities person been utilizing psychedelics during gestation “for generations, possibly centuries”.

Schaefer believes that nan technological organization has overmuch to study connected women’s wellness from Indigenous people, who person expertise pinch various plant-based medicines and “knowledge of nan assemblage that whitethorn not beryllium successful nan aforesaid vocabulary and position and concepts that we successful occidental medicine have, but they’re conscionable arsenic valid”.

Two years into collecting study responses, Mikaela and her colleagues cognize their activity is obscurity adjacent over. But she feels for illustration they person reached an inflection constituent arsenic they statesman collaborating pinch a doctoral student to redo nan study building and taxable proposals to people nan activity successful a peer-reviewed investigation journal.

The squad intends to cod stories from doubly arsenic galore mothers. Mikaela is besides eager to proceed pursuing nan families they person already connected with, to amended understand their semipermanent experiences.

Mikaela doesn’t cognize whether nan technological organization will travel to clasp “community research” connected women’s wellness that integrates Indigenous knowledge. At a infinitesimal wherever each of those subjects is tied up successful analyzable governmental narratives and disinformation campaigns, nan way up mightiness beryllium thorny. But she’s pressing connected each nan same.

Reporting for this communicative was supported by a Feriss-UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship