Midwife: "No caffeine at all" er... really? Are you kidding me??

[zerominuszero]

Still early on in my pregnancy, saw mw for the first time. I am going teetotal - my only vice is a single cup of tea in the morning. "Try to cut it down to no cups of tea," mw says.

Er... how is this anything other than total bullshit? I find it hard to believe that there are any studies that demonstrate any problem with ONE cup of tea in pregnancy. So why bother lying to me about it? All it does it cause me to lose respect for her and question whether anything she says is based on actual evidence, rather than voodoo rituals and astrology.

I know it's only a small thing, but... it really annoys me. So there you go.

I was the same as Earlgrey- tea and a rich tea biscuit were my MS cures.

Had probably 3 cups of lovely Yorkshire tea a day in first trimester and prob 2 and a coffee now.

Weirdly, at the same time I went right off diet coke. Used to do 3 cans a day pre-pregnancy. Havent had one at all since I got pregnant(but have rediscovered "fat coke" and have welcomed it back into the fold like a prodigal son).

Due to fertility issues, I made a personal decision to cut out all alcohol, caffeine, aspartame and other additives as far as possible, for 2 and a half years before I got pregnant! I then maintained it during the pregnancy, and for about 2 years afterwards.

I still don't drink tea or coffee, and only have an occasional can of diet coke (about 1 per month).

Although this was a personal choice, I still don't think it can be healthy to have lots and lots of caffeine during pregnancy. The effects of too much caffeine without pregnancy are well documented.

In the OPs case, it sounds like the midwife has been over the top!

I was told the same thing by mw but have ignored her, its my third pregnancy and having a cup of tea a day like you did'nt harm the other 2.

I totally gave up tea and coffee in the first trimester, but stuffed my face with chocolate, so I guess it's all about how you want to aportion your caffeine allowance!!

One cup of tea won't hurt in the slightest, as far as I know, though if you were in a mega high risk group I'd maybe abstain completely... but only if you're looking for every possible way to wrap yourself in cotton wool and safeguard against any risk.

Now I'm in my third trimester I usually have some combination of tea, diet coke and chocolate each day, though not heaps of any of them. I can tell it wakes the baby up, but I neeeeed it to wake me up else I'm too knackered to get through the day, so I'm praying there's no harm done!

It was my understanding that the recent survey re. pregnancy and miscarriage could categorically state that there is NOT a risk of miscarriage under a certain number of milligrams per day.

In which case no one has a right to suggest you should not be using caffeine...it's another example of pregnant women being public property, and the very unpleasant pedlars of 'Oooh, you'd never forgive yourself if something was wrong with your baby'

I haven't got time to find the study and read it at the moment, so I can't verify the complete absence of risk, but I have a cup of tea and a coffee everyday, and I have had two miscarriages in the past, so it's not worried me too much.

Sorry, I meant CAFFEINE and miscarriage, not pregnancy and miscarriage (durrr>>>)

What a load of rubbish!!

I live in the Netherlands and they're generally a lot more laid back here, I asked my midwife about caffine and she just said it was fine as long as it wasnt in excess!!

I cant help but feel the UK is getting more and more paranoid about everything like this by the second.... eventually it'll end up like America where I found a website advising against painting doors (even with water based paints) whilst pregnant as putting your arms over your head will cause the baby's umbilical cord to go around its neck and strangle it..... damn, I'd better stop taking jumpers off over my head and hanging out washing then!!!

Mine ahs never asked about or commented on caffeine useage. For the first tri I didn't fancy tea/coffee despite not having any MS, I did drink coke as an alternative having a drink when we went out though. I have recently started having a proper coffee in the morning (only since 34 wks when I stopped work and have had time!) though I have still been drinking coke and having the odd bit of chocolate.

i have a expresso every morning, how else am I supposed to function!!!!!

I have one cup of proper coffee and 1-2 cups of tea a day. I used to worry about Coke but it has quite a lot less caffeine than tea or coffee anyway so if I fancy one (once/twice a week) I have one!