Coffee in Early Pregnancy
Drinking coffee during pregnancy has been one of those automatic no-nos for a very long time, so a recent Danish study released by the British Medical Journal may come as a surprise. Researchers studying the effects of drinking coffee during pregnancy found that “coffee in moderation is safe during pregnancy”.
The effects of coffee during pregnancy have been extensively researched - and the results of the various studies into the effects of caffeine and coffee on pregnant women, fertility and the development of the growing baby are contradictory at best. This study suggests that women who take in less than 300 mgs of caffeine per day are not endangering their babies. That’s widely been reported as ‘about the same amount of caffeine as three cups of coffee’ - and that’s where things get sticky. Is that a cup of home brewed drip coffee? An espresso at your favorite coffee bar? A sixteen ounce latte? A cup of instant? Each of those has a different amount of caffeine - and it’s not always easy to guess which coffee drinks are the most loaded with caffeine.
Another study in Denmark back in 2003 found that women who drank more than eight daily cups of coffee during pregnancy increased their risk of miscarriage or stillbirth by as much as 3 times. The researchers suspected that the reason may be that caffeine constricts the blood vessels, meaning that less blood gets through the placenta to the developing baby. They also suggested that the caffeine in coffee may directly affect the baby, whose developing system is far more sensitive to caffeine than the mother’s. Other studies suggest that up to five daily cups of coffee during pregnancy is safe for your baby.
According to most medical experts, the bottom line on drinking coffee during pregnancy is this: pregnant women should reduce their intake of caffeine during pregnancy to about the amount found in 1 to 2 cups of coffee a day.
What about decaffeinated coffee and pregnancy?
There’s far less research into decaffeinated coffee and pregnancy. Since caffeine is the major culprit in the ill effects of drinking coffee during pregnancy, it stands to reason that during pregnancy decaf coffee is okay. Decaf still contains small amounts of caffeine, but if you must drink coffee during pregnancy decaf coffee is the way to go. Caffeinated coffee should be limited to no more than one to two cups of coffee per day.
The Good News About Coffee in Late Pregnancy
The Danish study reported in January studied the intake of coffee in late pregnancy - the last trimester. It showed that in over 1200 women, those who drank no more than 300 mgs of caffeine a day showed no difference in birth weight or premature births with women who drank strictly decaffeinated coffee during pregnancy. If you really need that shot of caffeine, you might try replacing a few cups of coffee a day with decaffeinated coffee during pregnancy.
More recent studies:
A new study of 5,144 pregnant women by scientists at the State Department of Health, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research and UCSF turned up some surprising results. The study found no significant increased risk for spontaneous abortion, or miscarriage, associated with caffeine consumption. Even among women considered heavy caffeine consumers (300 milligrams or three cups of coffee a day) miscarriage risk increased only slightly — about 1.3 times the risk as non-caffeine users.
In the end, as with all things, moderation is the name of the game.
