Pregnancy Risks Found with Caffeine

Small Amounts of Caffeine Now Linked to Low Birth Weight in Babies

Nov 11, 2008

Prior recommendations for pregnant women were that 250-300mg of caffeine per day was safe. However new research points to risks with smaller amounts of caffeine intake.

If you are pregnant, you are most likely hearing that caffeine, in limited quantities, is safe. In fact, if you asked your care provider recently about caffeine, you might have heard him say that "in moderation" or a cup or two of coffee is fine during pregnancy. That recommendation may be changing. What do we know about caffeine and pregnancy? How may the new evidence change your care provider's advice about caffeine intake during pregnancy?

Previous Research on Caffeine Effects on Pregnancy

Previous research has found a link between the mother's caffeine intake and miscarriage. One study showed an increased risk of having a stillborn baby when mothers drank more than 4 cups of coffee a day. Animal studies have shown that when the mother was exposed to 60-90mg of caffeine daily, her offspring showed reduced ability to learn in new situations versus offspring not exposed to caffeine. Other studies on animals have shown that caffeine intake during pregnancy has caused more birth defects in the young. Even though there has been previous evidence that caffeine consumption increased the mother's risk of having a baby with low birth weight, there was not sufficient results about safe levels of caffeine or exactly how much caffeine could lead to having a low birth weight baby.

How Caffeine Affects Your Growing Baby

You might be surprised to learn the specifics of what caffeine does after you drink or eat something containing caffeine and how it is able to affect your baby. Dr. Nehlig, a French researcher in the area of caffeine, describes the effect of caffeine on the baby in his 1994 article in the journal of Neurotoxicology and Teratology.

"It has also been shown that absorption of caffeine has a vasoconstrictive effect on placental circulation. Blood flow is not modified in the umbilical fetal vein but intervillious placental blood flow is significantly diminished after absorption of 2 cups of coffee. This decrease in blood flow along with increased concentration of noradrenaline induced by caffeine in the maternal serum could represent a potential risk for the fetus."

In essence, caffeine during pregnancy restricts the blood flow from the mother's placenta to her growing baby.

Latest Research Findings on Caffeine and Low Birth Weight

The most recent research was done in the UK in two large hospitals with over 2,500 mothers participating in the study. This observational study found that there was even a higher risk of a low birthweight baby with mothers who had as little as 100mg of caffeine each day as compared to mothers with little or no caffeine intake. This is about the equivalent of one cup of coffee, which contains about 90mg. Based on the results, researchers have recommended that caffeine intake be reduced before conception as well as throughout pregnancy.

Monitoring Your Own Caffeine Intake During Pregnancy

One of the biggest problems is that people associate caffeine with coffee and tea and do not realize that many other food and beverage items contain caffeine including sodas, chocolate, chocolate drinks and medications. Be sure you read ingredients in some of the these products so you can keep better track of your actual caffeine intake during pregnancy. Here is a list of the caffeine levels in common foods and beverages:

The copyright of the article Pregnancy Risks Found with Caffeine in Prenatal Health is owned by Brenda Lane. Permission to republish Pregnancy Risks Found with Caffeine in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.