Don’t reach for a cup of coffee if you are pregnant: It can lead to smaller babies, miscarriage and more

Pregnant women who consume coffee are more likely to have smaller babies than others who did not consume caffeinated beverages.

By: Jahnavi Sarma | | Updated: March 30, 2021 9:14 am

Caffeine consumed during pregnancy can change important brain pathways that could lead to behavioral problems later in life.

Pregnant women are advised not to have coffee. This is not because of any superstition or misplaced good intentions. There are scientific reasons why you must not reach for your morning cup of coffee if you are pregnant. Coffee contains caffeine and this can have an adverse effect on fetal growth and affect the out of your pregnancy. A new study has revealed that pregnant women who consumed as little as half a cup of coffee a day on an average had slightly smaller babies than pregnant women who did not consume caffeinated beverages. Researchers from the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development say that the results of their study suggest that it might be prudent to limit or forego caffeine-containing beverages during pregnancy. JAMA Network Open published this study. Smaller birth size can place infants at higher risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes later in life. Also Read - Here’s Why Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women Should Abstain From Using Marijuana

Infants of coffee drinkers were lighter, shorter and smaller at birth

According to researchers, they found corresponding reductions in size and lean body mass for infants whose mothers consumed below the 200 milligrams of caffeine per day — about two cups of coffee — believed to increase risks to the fetus. The researchers came to this conclusion after analyzing data on more than 2,000 racially and ethnically diverse women at 12 clinical sites who were enrolled from 8 to 13 weeks of pregnancy. Also Read - Exposure to toxic elements during pregnancy raises your child's risk of autism

From weeks 10 to 13 of pregnancy, the women provided a blood sample that was later analyzed for caffeine and paraxanthine, a compound produced when caffeine is broken down in the body. Compared to infants born to women with no or minimal blood levels of caffeine, infants born to women who had the highest blood levels of caffeine at enrollment were an average of 84 grams lighter at birth (about three ounces), were 0.44 centimeters shorter (about .17 inches), and had head circumferences 0.28 centimeters smaller (about 0.11 inches). Also Read - Male infertility: Exposure to endocrine disruptors during early pregnancy can affect semen quality of your child

Increases risk of heart diseases, diabetes

Caffeine causes the blood vessels in the uterus and placenta to constrict. This may reduce blood supply to the fetus and inhibit growth. Caffeine may also disrupt fetal stress hormones, putting infants at risk for rapid weight gain after birth and for later life obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

Caffeine during pregnancy may increase risk of miscarriage too

Another earlier study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research says that high doses of daily caffeine during pregnancy — whether from coffee, tea, caffeinated soda or hot chocolate — cause an increased risk of miscarriage. According to researchers of this study, women who consumed 200 mg or more of caffeine per day (two or more cups of regular coffee or five 12-ounce cans of caffeinated soda) had twice the miscarriage risk as women who consumed no caffeine, said Li. Women who consumed less than 200 mg of caffeine daily had more than 40 per cent increased risk of miscarriage.

It can lead to behavioral issues

Another recent study by researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center says that Caffeine consumed during pregnancy can change important brain pathways that could lead to behavioral problems later in life. Researchers analyzed thousands of brain scans of nine and ten-year-olds, and revealed changes in the brain structure in children who were exposed to caffeine in utero.

It can even cause leukemia

It is a fact that childhood leukaemia could be initiated by DNA alterations in the unborn child. But it may also develop if there was another secondary trigger. There is currently no single proven cause of childhood leukaemia, though exposure to radiation and/or a rare response to a common infection are thought likely to play a part. A study at University of Leicester says that caffeine consumption during pregnancy may cause this cancer in a child too.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Published : March 29, 2021 3:49 pm | Updated:March 30, 2021 9:14 am

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