Written By: Debjani Arora | Updated : April 13, 2016 10:42 AM IST
Somebody once asked me what is the most difficult part of pregnancy, and I said saying no to coffee, every single day. And if you are a coffee lover like me you would definitely agree. Well, my love for coffee couldn t triumph over love for my baby, and so I decided to say good-bye to the java-jolt the day I saw the two pink lines on my home pregnancy test strip. But there are many women I know who still keep a low-key affair with caffeine during pregnancy. So this got me thinking if it is okay to drink coffee during pregnancy.
We got our expert Sonali Shivlani, an internationally certified pregnancy, lactation and child nutrition counsellor to answer this question. According to her, If a pregnant woman wants to have a cup of coffee, decaffeinated coffee should be her choice. Still coffee intake should be restricted to just one cup a day. But remember it is caffeine in coffee and not coffee alone that could lead to detrimental effects on both maternal and fetal health.
Most lactation experts and doctors suggest limiting caffeine to 200 mg/day (including all caffeinated beverage), which equals to two small cups of coffee a day. There are various studies that show contradictory results on how coffee intake during pregnancy affects the fetus. While some studies say that there are no ill-effects of coffee on the fetus, others have just the opposite opinion. A study published in the journal BMC Medicine in 2013 showed that consistent caffeine intake during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight and reduced gestational size [1]. However, it did not increase the risk of preterm labour or miscarriage that was first thought.
So if you cannot do without your cup of java in the morning or at your desk, to be on the safer side limit it to just one cup and opt for decaffeinated coffee which tastes almost similar or turns cold turkey. The later one is difficult, but it is worth it.
Reference
1: Sengpiel V, Elind E, Bacelis J, Nilsson S, Grove J, Myhre R, Haugen M, Meltzer HM, Alexander J, Jacobsson B, Brantsaeter AL. Maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy is associated with birth weight but not with gestational length:results from a large prospective observational cohort study. BMC Med. 2013 Feb 19;11:42. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-11-42. PubMed PMID: 23421532; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3606471.
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