Caffeine and Miscarriages

An interesting paper was just published talking about caffeine consumption and the occurrence of miscarriages during the first three months of pregnancy. I'd like to share this information with you. Watch my TODAY show segment for more information and scroll down for the video clip if you missed it live.

There have been reports of caffeine and miscarriage rates for several decades, but the scientific evidence collected was really not sufficient to connect caffeine intake and miscarriages rate. This study, from the Kaiser Permanente Research Institute in California, looked at a group of about 1000 women in the San Francisco area. Importantly, they controlled for a lot of factors thought to be related to miscarriage—including maternal age, alcohol consumption, nausea/vomiting, and others.

One major finding popped out: Those women with the highest caffeine intake (more than 200mg per day, daily) had double the number of miscarriages as those women who did not consume caffeine at all. 25 women out of 100 miscarried in the high caffeine group, compared with 12 in the 0mg caffeine ingestion group. Those women who ingested "some caffeine" (more than 0, but less than 200) showed a slight increase of 15 women per 100 (compared to 12 in the caffeine-free group).

So, what does this mean for newly pregnant women? Many obstetricians already advise their patients to eliminate, or greatly reduce, their daily caffeine intake when pregnant. This study helps support this recommendation.

Now, cutting out caffeine is not going to guarantee a miscarriage will not occur, but it appears that high consumption increases risk significantly.

What does 200mg of caffeine look like? it's two small cups of coffee, four cups of tea, or five cans of soda. The study pointed out that it was the caffeine, not the product containing it, since women consumed all kinds of caffeinated beverages.

Are you newly pregnant? Know someone who is? What advice are they getting about caffeine intake? With this new observation, it seems wise to reduce daily caffeine intake, if not eliminate it totally.

For those that need a substitute, try decaffeinated coffee and tea, or herbal tea to dramatically lower your caffeine intake, yet provide a warm beverage.

Looking for a "jolt?" Try a quick shower, take brisk walk, go out and get some sunshine, eat a fruit, have some juice, or drink a cold glass of water.

Special Thanks to iVillage and Helath Journal with Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom