Cut down the caffeine, pregnant women told

Tuesday November 4th, 2008

An official warning was issued yesterday to pregnant women to cut down on their consumption of caffeine.

Even chocolate may be off limits for women following a British study which showed the more caffeine a women consumes, the greater the risk her baby will be born excessively small.

Current British guidance suggests 300mg a day - about three mugs of instant coffee - and yesterday this was cut to 200mg.

But the study, published yesterday by the British Medical Journal, shows drinking an average of two mugs of coffee a day linked to a 20 per cent increase in the risk of having a low birthweight baby. And three mugs increased the risk by 50 per cent.

Some 2,645 pregnant women were studied by the researchers from Leicester and Leeds universities.

The study found that most women took their caffeine from tea - about 62 per cent. Coffee accounted for 14 per cent, cola 12 per cent, chocolate eight per cent and other soft drinks two per cent.

Researcher Professor Justin Konje, of the University of Leicester, said: "This was a large study involving about 2,500 pregnant women, designed to overcome the limitations of previous research in this area.

"Tea was the major source of caffeine for most of the women in the study, and it is important for expectant mothers to understand that caffeine is not just in coffee and cola."

The Food Standards Agency says a woman can have two mugs of instant coffee, one of filtered coffee, two mugs of tea, five cans of cola or four 50g bars of plain chocolate a day.

FSA chief scientist Andrew Wadge said: "This new advice doesn't mean that pregnant women have to cut out caffeine completely, simply that they should be careful and make sure they don't have too much.

"We would emphasise that the risks are likely to be very small and believe our new advice, which is based on new research and has been considered by leading independent scientists, is sensible and proportionate."

Tags: Childbirth and Pregnancy | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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