Article: Coffee Drinking in Pregnancy

[BellyBelly]

Heavy Coffee Drinking in Pregnancy Tied to Increased Risk of Fetal Death

By Anne Harding

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Nov 15 - Fetal death is twice as likely among women who drink eight or more cups of coffee daily during pregnancy compared to women who avoid coffee while pregnant, Danish researchers report.

Adjusting for other risk factors weakened the association somewhat, but heavy coffee drinkers remained at 59% greater risk of fetal death, Dr. Bodil Hammer Bech of the University of Aarhus and colleagues report.

Women who drank four to seven cups daily had a 33% increased risk of fetal death.

"Due to our findings and previous studies we think it is reasonable to apply the precaution principle and advise pregnant women to abstain from drinking more than 3 cups of coffee per day," Dr. Bech told Reuters Health. Denmark currently has an official policy warning women to restrict their coffee intake to three cups or less daily.

While a number of studies have linked coffee drinking to adverse pregnancy outcomes, and there are plausible physiological mechanisms by which caffeine might harm a fetus, the risks of coffee drinking in pregnancy have been questioned, Dr. Bech and colleagues note in the November 15 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

To investigate, they surveyed 88,482 women enrolled in the Danish National Birth Cohort, among whom there were 1,102 fetal deaths. The women were interviewed about coffee intake and potentially confounding factors, such as alcohol consumption and smoking, at approximately 16 weeks' gestation.

Among the women, 55.4% reported drinking no coffee during pregnancy, while 31.4% drank one-half to three cups daily. Thirteen percent of the women drank more than three cups of coffee daily, while 3.4% drank eight or more cups a day.

After adjustment, the researchers found, women who drank one-half to three cups a day had a 3% increased risk of fetal death; those who consumed four to seven cups had a 33% increased risk; and those who drank eight or more cups had a 59% greater risk of fetal death. The association was strongest for fetal deaths after 20 weeks gestation.

The researchers found no link between tea or cola consumption and fetal death, suggesting that caffeine may not be the exposure of interest. "Coffee contains a number of chemical compounds," Dr. Bech noted. "Further studies should try to disentangle a caffeine effect from a non-caffeine effect."

Am J Epidemiol 2005;162:983-990.

[Ambah]

Wow, thats really interesting.... and more interesting in that the deaths are only linked to specifically coffee, but not caffeine in general?
Will be interesting to see what their further studies come up with...

[jaggard]

What amazes me is that there are people out there that drink 8 cups a day. That's heaps.

[nic]

8-[ I was one of those people who drank 8+ cups per day 8-[ usually around 12 while I was at work, plus the ones before and after work.... so way too many. When I found out I was pregnant, I went cold turkey! I even bought caffeine free tea!! i had killer migraines for a week or so... but it was all worth it!

Nic

[Jacci PG]

Nic - I am like you before i got pregnant i would average atleast 10 cups a day - i would sit at my desk and try to work out things ( i'm an accountant) and then i would have my coffee in one hand and my calculator in the other hehehe - but like you when i found out i was pregnant i went cold turkey!!! God it was hard - giving up alcohol, cofffee and cigarettes in one week............. my Poor DH!!!!!!!

[nic]

LOL Jacci... alcohol,coffee and smokes all in one week!!! That's an amazing effort!

Nic

[BellyBelly]

Going cold turkey is very hard on your body - some people can have severe reactions - so please do it slowly!

I'll make this into a poll so we can see what people have been drinking during pregnancy.

[kerry]

Before I was pg I would be having 16+ cups of coffe a day...

1. get out of bed coffee
2. after my shower/making breakfast coffee
3. breakfast coffee
4. driving to work coffee (and cos the ,ug is huge this is really about 2 coffees.
5 & 6. Get to work short black with a capaccino chaser (We have a cap/espresso machine at work)
7. mid morning short black
8. lunch flat white
9. afternoon short black
10 & 11. leaving work for the day short black with a cap chaser
12. Get home from work coffee
13. making dinner cofee
14. after dinner coffee
15. Doing the dishes coffee
16. evening coffee

This does not include extra coffees if I am stressed or have visitors .... sometimes at home I will substitute tea for the coffee. Anyway before I even found out I was pg (and I found out at 4.5w) I went right off coffee... the smell of it made me ill... one morning I woke up, made my coffee went to take a sip and poured it down the sink. I didn't have anymore coffee (totally not interested in it) until I hit the 27w mark... now its a bit of a craving... but I am only having about 3 cups a day, if that... 1 when I get to work, one mid morning and sometimes one in the afternoon. Its like my body naturally new that it was bad and took me off it. I can't drink short blacks anymore either and I am having the weakest flat whites known to man.

[Jacci PG]

Um - I hit the wrong button on the poll - I thought it said before pregnant so i hit nine!!!! sorry i meant to hit the 0 - coz i have stopped drinking coffee!!

[kerry]

Get used to it Jacci... your brain actually deteriorates more and more as your pg progresses... I've reached the point where I stop mid sentence and have no idea what I was talking about... plus I ask people to vauccum my lawn or mow the carpet... ](*,)

[BellyBelly]

I think I read somewhere that your brain actually shrinks while pregnant? I reckon I could tell them that!!! LOL...

[nic]

PMSL Kerry!! Your lawn would be nice and clean!

Nic

[kazz30]

I used to drink 1-3 cups of coffee a day before I was pg, more if I was working though, but as soon as I became pg I totally went off it and can't drink it at all. I tried the other day a decaf one but it just tasted yuk, plus the smell got to me too.

[Jacci PG]

Kelly & Jo - I am definetly going to play the preggy brain card........ Today i was that confused that i rang my DH and asked him What sort of an animal mickey mouse was.......... he just killed himself laughing I was sitting there thinking - what is he laughing at.......... then i got it

[Adnil]

I switched to decaf straight away, but then went off it almost the next day anyway and couldnt stand the taste!

[Jacci PG]

Linda - I think i read somewhere that Decaf is bad for you - I think - I will see if i can find the article.

[Lucy]

I gave up the coffee when we were TTC....I went from about 4 cups a day to 0.5 cups....I just found it SO hard to give up that last little bit! Then when I finally got pregnant I gave up totally, but would "treat myself" about once a fortnight to a lovely latte........

I also gave up coke for the pregnancy, but went to the movies at 9 months pg and thought "Stuff it, I am having a coke", drank it through the movie and my little overdue Olivia who had never had any caffine before.........OMG.......it was party time...she practically kicked me out of my seat!!

[kazz30]

I must admit I can't seem to give up my coke from Maccas, HJs or the movies, although we don't go that often anyway. I don't think they have much caffiene in them anyway. (well I hope not 8-[ ) I have not drank any normal coke (from cans etc...) for the entire pg though.

Sorry a bit off the subject.