Prevent Disease.com - Moderate Coffee Drinking OK During Pregnancy: Study



		Moderate Coffee Drinking OK During Pregnancy: Study NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Another study has found that moderate caffeine consumption by pregnant women is not likely to harm the developing fetus. "This study provides reassurance that moderate caffeine consumption during pregnancy does not meaningfully influence fetal growth," write Dr. Michael B. Bracken of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut and colleagues. "Large amounts of caffeine should be avoided, but we found no evidence of risk from consumption of decaffeinated coffee," they add in the March issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology. But serious effects could be seen among women who drink six or more 10-ounce cups of coffee daily, they add. The findings mirror research released last month by Danish researchers that found pregnant women who drank four cups of coffee daily or more were at greater risk of having a stillborn child. In the current study, researchers asked nearly 2,300 pregnant women in Connecticut and Massachusetts about their caffeine consumption, and tested their urine for caffeine. The investigators found that caffeine consumption did not increase the risk of low birth weight or preterm delivery, and had no effect on fetal growth in the womb. But the researchers did see a relationship between caffeine consumption and birth weight, with weight reduced by 28 grams (just under one ounce) for every 100 milligrams of caffeine consumed daily, the equivalent of about one cup of coffee. The reduction, the researchers say, is unlikely to have any clinical effect, except among women consuming 600 milligrams of caffeine (6 cups of coffee) daily or more. Much larger effects were seen for women who smoked during pregnancy, the researchers note. Those who smoked 10 cigarettes daily cut their baby's birth weight by about 180 grams (6.3 ounces), while babies of women who smoked a pack of 20 cigarettes a day weighed about 360 grams (12.7 ounces) less than newborns whose mothers didn't smoke at all. SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology 2003;157:456-466. Reference Source 89 For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".