Which Tea are drinking during pregnancy?

[hartmel]

As the question above already explains it.. I'm wondering what kind of teas are you drinking while pregnant. As specially in the first trimester.

I'm a big tea drinker and now a couple of friends told me that I should be aware of as couple teas are not good in pregnancy's..

I drink every morning one cup (300ml) green tea. With no sugar or milk..

I'm 12 weeks pregnant.

Thanks

Rooibos, but that is the tea I always drink. It's an acquired taste I would say. It's caffeine free which is a bonus.

I drank tetley redbush tea when pregnant.

Yorkshire tea decaf tea, but have gone off it so not drinking as much.

Normal tea and whatever fruit/herbal teas I wanted.

Lemon and ginger and camomile fruit teas and decaf teas. I went off the taste of green tea (used to drink alot) in early pregnancy.

Congrats!

I'm 7 weeks and having one full caff tea when I get up, then decaf the rest of the day. I have ginger tea if my tummy feels funny too.

I have tried pretty much every brand of decaf tea and found most them are just 'not quite right' - the best I've found is the PG Tips decaf. I drink a couple of cups of that during the day, but try to limit it as I am borderline anemic and tea can interfere with iron absorption.

I did switch to drinking green tea until I found out it also contains caffeine! I do still enjoy most fruit and herb teas but try to mix it up so I'm not having too much of any one blend. Fresh grated ginger with lemon juice is also pretty tasty, and Belvoir cordials with hot water are nice if you need warming up.

Am drinking decaf Earl Grey but since that's what I drank before it's possibly not much help to you!

Yorkshire decaf for me too! Sometimes I have a normal tea in the morning too.

I'm not a big builder's drinker (am not English, in my defence! ), but will have a cup of real tea or Earl Grey (with milk, no sugar) occasionally. During my first trimester I was really craving weak tea with sugar (no milk), so I had that once or twice a day.

I usually have about 3 or 4 cups of herbal tea a day. Camomile, fennel and sometimes peppermint.

You can have quite a few cups of regular tea and still be under the caffeine limit though.

I bought a really nice twinings tea it's fennel and nettle leaf. It's got no caffeine so you can have as much as you like in pregnancy and it's high in iron which is also great. It's seen me through nearly 8 months so far and I just got some more to last till my babys born I just add a drop of sugar or sweetener but my DH tried some and reckons it's okay without....
congratulations!

I drink very weak english tea - two to three cups a day, no coffee obv. I live in germany and cant get caffeine free english tea here. I cant stomach rooibos tea (i think it is a marmite type tea). Peppermint tea - lots. Be careful with Camomile tea actually, it can be harmful in large doses (herbs can be very powerful), obv. do not touch rasberry leaf tea - this is used to bring on labour, be careful with spices like star anise, too much ginger, nettle etc. Basically, peppermint, no problem (although when breast feeding can dry milk up a bit), rooibos too, decaff english, etc - see the link and I pasted a bit below for info. Good old slice of lemon and honey also great.

www.babycenter.com/0_herbal-teas-during-pregnancy_3537.bc

Herbs that may cause problems include anise, ginger, lime blossom, rose hip, catnip, chamomile, comfrey, ephedra (called ma huang in traditional Chinese medicine and banned in the U.S. since 2004), European mistletoe, hibiscus, horehound, Labrador, lemongrass, licorice root, mugwort, pennyroyal, raspberry leaf, rosemary, sage, sassafras, stinging nettle leaf, vetiver, and yarrow.

Fennel I hear is excellent (annoying as I don't like the taste) and really superb when breast feeding. DEF. no sage - this also brings on labour. Hope this helps!!

some more info here:-

www.babybellies.ca/index.php?pr=Article-Pregnancy-Safe-Herbal-Teas

It should be noted however that some herbal teas are not safe to drink during pregnancy. Chamomile tea, for instance, has been reported to have adverse effects on the uterus. Therefore chamomile tea should be avoided during pregnancy.

Take a pass on these herbs during pregnancy

When you are pregnant, active ingredients in some herbs can have adverse effects including:

• Stimulation of the uterus and cause uterine contractions
• Acts as a diuretic and cause you to urinate often
• Product toxic effects on your baby
• Cause birth defects

This list includes, but is not limited to, herbs to stay away from during pregnancy:

Black and Blue Cohosh, Chamomile, Devil's Claw, Don Quai
Ephedra, Fenugreek, Gentian, Ginseng, Hawthorne
Licorice Root, Mother Wort, Nettle, Penny Royal
Red Raspberry, Senna, Shepherd's Purse
St. John?s Wort, Yarrow

p.s. I should say I drank two pots a day of chamomile up to 12 weeks as I had no clue you were now advised not too! it has had absolutely no adverse effects, likewise for nettle tea. But just passing on the medical advice so you can make your own mind up! :-)

The only one that you're really not supposed to drink until the last couple of weeks is raspberry leaf. You'd have to drink gallons of herbal tea to get anywhere close to 'unsafe' levels of herbs.

Clipper apple and Ginger and also blackcurrant and acai. I read that green tea was bad? I usually have green tea but I have given it up.

Completely went off any kind of tea until about 20 weeks. Still don't fancy peppermint tea which I used to love but can drink normal tea again.

A good tip for reducing caffeine is to brew the bag for 20-30 secs, tip that away and then brew again. Gives a weaker taste but means you can have more than your recommended 2-3 cups a day. Personally I prefer to do this than drink decaf tea as most decaf tea contain residues of the chemicals used in the decaffeination process - probably accounts for why they never taste quite right!

I can't believe chamomile tea is not recommended! I've been drinking loads! (5.5 weeks)

Just be cautious on green tea especially in first trimester, as it restricts the absorption of folic acid.
I went off all hot drinks in first 18 or so weeks, only drank cold drinks even in the snowy weather. still not really got back onto fruit, peppermint teas etc. drinking lots of tetley decaf though now.

The best decaf tea I have found is Twinings Earl Grey decaf. You have to stew it for about ten minutes but it does taste close to the real thing.

I asked my midwife about the chamomile tea thing. She said one cup a day is fine. I often have one before bed. The NHS do not advise pregnant women should avoid it either. US baby websites seem to be much more extreme about what pregnant women should and shouldn't eat and drink. The trouble with Google is you end up reading (usually contradictory) guidelines from loads of different countries. I have decided to listen to my midwife instead!

You can buy 'pregnancy-safe' tea here www.mamatea.com/ - note 2 of the blends include chamomile. Also Pukka say all their herbal teas are safe in pregnancy, so I drink those too.

Greaf thread. Decaf Tetley and ginger early stages when couldn't deal with caffeine - made my morning sickness worse. I have days when I don't drink any tea at all - fizzy water - and ones where I have my full 4 cups. Am 30 weeks now though. Will stock up on fennel teaand. Used to drink one strong coffee - a two shot latte - a day. The last caffeinated coffee I had was the one I ordered just before taking a positive pregnancy test; nipped to the loo in Starbucks to do my pee test. I drank my coffee after getting the positive - knowing it would be my last for a good 7.5 months.

Decaf PG Tips (usually a Twinings Breakfast/Everyday girl but their decaff is rank).

Avoiding Rasberry Leaf until 32wks.

Nettle tea and decaf Earl Grey.

I love my rooibos. as a pp said though, it is an acquired taste.