Previous studies have suggested that drinking a lot of coffee during pregnancy could affect the baby’s birth weight and may result in miscarriage or premature delivery.
A recent research by Danish researchers finds that there is no indication of a link between caffeine intake and pregnancy outcome.The study began with the recruitment of around 1,000 women in the initial stages of pregnancy who drank three cups of coffee a day. They were divided into two groups, with 568 of them drinking instant coffee with caffeine and 629 women drinking decaffeinated instant coffee.
All of them were regularly observed to monitortheir caffeine intake as some of them also had other drinks like tea and cola. The birth weight of 1,150 newborn babies and the length of pregnancy for 1,153 of the babies were analyzed.
The study concludes: 'No significant differences were found for mean birth weight or mean length of gestation between women in the decaffeinated coffee group (whose mean caffeine intake was 182mg lower than that of the other group) and women in the caffeinated coffee group.'
The authors also found that a reduction in caffeine intake during the second half of pregnancy had no effect on birth weight or length of pregnancy.
The women were unaware of the type of coffee they were given, and factors such as age, pre-pregnancy weight and smoking were also considered.
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The authors declared these differences were not statistically significant.
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PRI/M
