Less caffeine better during pregnancy, study says

For years, medical professionals have been telling pregnant women to reduce their caffeine intake, and that by doing so they could reduce their risks for problems such as premature delivery, low birth-weight babies and miscarriage.

However, for some pregnant women giving up caffeine completely simply is not realistic. For them, how much caffeine is too much?

A report from the British Medical Journal tried to answer this question. Researchers followed more than 2,600 low-risk women at two large teaching hospitals in England from 2003 to 2006. They screened pregnant women for caffeine, tobacco and other drug use. Close monitoring also noted miscarriages, low birth-weight deliveries, preterm delivery, elevated blood pressure and stillbirths.

In attempting to determine a safe upper limit of caffeine intake, the researchers looked for pregnant women who admittedly ingested significant amounts of caffeine as coffee, tea, soda or chocolate. In those women, the average amount of caffeine intake prior to pregnancy was almost 240 milligrams per day. That dropped to an average of 140 milligrams of caffeine during their pregnancies.

To put caffeine levels in perspective, a soda or cup of coffee has about 30 to 40 milligrams of caffeine.

What the researchers found answered some questions, but also raised some new ones. In comparing the women who ingested more than 300 milligrams of caffeine vs. those who ingested 30 milligrams of caffeine per day, the most dramatic differences were noted in infant birth weights. Higher amounts of caffeine ingestion were associated with lower birth weights.

From past studies we have also seen a correlation of higher caffeine usage with miscarriage and premature delivery.

So the British researchers confirmed what we already knew - that less caffeine is better when it comes to pregnancy. Unfortunately, they were not able to determine if there is a safe upper limit of caffeine ingestion.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists suggests a maximum of 300 milligrams per day. The British government's Food Standards Agency recommends no more than 200 milligrams per day. Some doctors say to patients who just cannot say no to that morning cup of coffee is to try to keep their caffeine ingestion to less than 100 milligrams per day.

Of course, we have to keep the results of this British study in context. While levels of caffeine usage greater than 30 milligrams per day were associated with smaller birth weight babies, these differences in weight were fairly small (a few ounces).

Of course, when combined with the use of tobacco, alcohol or other substances, a few ounces could make a big difference.

Source