Top caffeine and pregnancy resources

If you drink coffee, nonherbal tea, or cola, or eat chocolate, you are consuming caffeine in varying amounts. There is some controversy about the health effects of caffeine, but moderate amounts (less than four cups of coffee per day, for example) do not seem to be harmful to normal adults. But if you are taking in too much caffeine, you may suffer from such temporary difficulties as anxiety, nervousness, sleep disorders, and heart palpitations. although animal studies in which rats were fed the equivalent of 60 to 80 cups of coffee per day did show birth defects in their offspring, there is no firm evidence that even excessive caffeine intake during pregnancy causes birth defects or problems in human pregnancy. On the other hand, a recent study in Finland found that diabetes is most common in countries where coffee consumption is high, such as Finland, and least common in countries where people drink very little coffee, such as Japan. The United States falls between these two extremes. researchers speculate that caffeine is a substance that corsses the placenta and accumulates in fetal tissue, perhaps eventually damaging the cells in the pancreas that later produce insulin.

To date this is all just a theory. Still, moderation is the prudent approach. Although there is no evidence of increased tetratogenic or reproductive risk with caffeine, caffeine is of no nutritional value. Eliminating caffeine during pregnancy would do no harm, and if you plan to breast-feed later, you will be glad not to have to deal with stopping your caffeine intake at that time. If you used to drinking coffee on a daily basis, however, you may suffer some withdrawal discomfort-usually headaches-when you stop suddenly. An easy way to avoid this is to mix a caffeine portion over a period of days. You can mix half regular and half decaffeinated one and then gradually reduce the caffeine portion over a period of days.