Is caffiene really that big if a problem?

[24hourM0MMY]

I know that too much is defo a bad idea, but for those who have given up completely, did you have a doctor tell you to cut it out or was it a personal choice? I'm currently 6 weeks and I cannot for the life of me stop that first morning cup of coffee. The rest if the day, i have no problem staying away. Is it really linked to early misscarriages?

I still have one cup of normal tea on waking, then have decaf drinks the rest of the day. If I am going out at night (past 6pm) I sometimes have a coke to keep me awake and on Sunday mornings I have a real coffee instead of the tea. I'd say I go over the 200mg now and then.

I just wish I were confident enough to go along with Emily Oster's research in Expecting Better. I think it's probably true, but if I follow the doctor's guidelines (200 mg or less), if something bad happens and someone tries to blame me for it, I can tell them to go to hell, I did what everybody says to do. If they're one of those "no caffeine, ever" types, I can dismiss them as woo-woo. If I had more caffeine, something went wrong, and someone tried to blame me for it, I wouldn't be able to do that. I'm really scared of having something go wrong and people blaming me for it.

I commuted by car in my first pregnancy. I justified my caffeine intake by saying it was keeping me from falling asleep at the wheel (which is probably even true), and that falling asleep at the wheel at 60 mph would definitely be bad for the baby.

I wasn't told To give up coffee, 13 years ago, but I did anyway because I found even a few sips gave me palpatations.

For most of this pregnancy, and especially during the first trimester, I have stuck to one cup of coffee in the morning (it's half a mug of stovetop espresso, which, after some confusing and inconclusive research, I have decided is probably about 100mg).

However, the other day I had a long drive to do, and drank 3 cups of coffee throughout the day, otherwise doubt i'd have managed to keep my eyes open. It's all about juggling risk, IMO.

I had no problem with one or 2 cups of coffee a day in my 2 PG's - though I did receive the occasional lecture about from busybodies.

5 or 6 cups of tea a day. All good. GP approved. Definitely read the Expecting Better book, and then just lie and tell the busybodies it's decaff.

I love coffee but I've given it up through choice. If anything happened I would blame myself. I do have some caffeine in a nightly hot chocolate and some chocolate. I only allowed myself one cup a day while breastfeeding too (I bf for 17 months and then got pregnant again).

I've had two pregnancies with absolutely no nausea, no coffee and have had no problems. Many people have no nausea and go on to have successful pregnancies.

I've given up by default as I've gone right off all hot drinks, coke and chocolate.
Very weird as pre pregnancy I main lined coffee and coke all day.

If I could stomach the thought of any of the above I'd feel quite happy in having a couple of helpings a day.

Instead of decaf tea, you can have rooibos tea!

I lost my love for coffee when the hormones kicked in, tastes horrible since. I'm hoping it's a symptom rather than permanent

Strangely, I am not a coffee drinker at all but with this pregnancy, I seem to rather a fancy a cup of instant every day.

I don't drink anything else though -- no tea or herbal tea. I am slightly of the mindset that herbal teas might not be that great a thing since I seem to get nauseous after a cup.

I've actually found that I don't mind a cup of hot water, which is probably a bit weird.

As a pp said, there is a link between caffeine and early miscarriage but absolutely no proof that it's causal. Will come back and post a link the the actual research when at a computer. Second Emily Ostler's book for a good summary

There is very very little evidence of any harm from caffiene at all, and the small bit there is a slightly increased risk of m/c (1st trim) or low birth weight (3rd trim).

There is no reason whatsoever to give up coffee unless you want to for whatever reason of your own.

Personally, I don't drink coffee or tea with caffeine, but I allow myself chocolate. That way, I only get a little of it and stay well below the advised limit.

I thought part of the reason you were advised to keep caffeine intake below 200mg was also because too much can cause low birthweight (natural low birthweight fine, but 'artificially induced' low birthweight not fine)

Pre pregnancy I drank around 5 mugs of coffee and 2 - 3 of tea per day, plus a Pepsi. I am down to one tea on waking. Some days I will have a second tea when I get home from work. i will have a coffee if I really want one - 1 or 2 times per week.

I have though given up ALL alcohol.

I used to have 2 cups of tea a day & if I was having coffee it would be decaf. Still mostly the same post-baby...

With my first pregnancy I was on about 5 cups of coffee a day before finding out. I never stopped completely or switched to decaf but I went down to 2-3 a day. I found it harder trying to give up the morning coffee than giving up cigs! With this pregnancy I'm on 1-2 a day standard instant coffee. My morning coffee is my life saver. My consultant has no concerns

I have one cup a week, I adore coffee and find it much harder to give up that wine. I have had several early miscarriages and am therefore paranoid.

IF you are going for decaff you want to make sure its water filtered, the chemically filtered stuff is probably worse for the baby than caffeine.

Nespresso decaf is water filtered as is Lavazza decaf (which is totally delicious and can pass for the real thing)

This is my first pregnancy and I'm 6 weeks along, I've switched to decaf coffee straight away and been drinking millencano which taste nice! Found it hard giving up cola but have had 2cans since finding out! As others have said i'm just paranoid! I don't want to feel if something happens I could have prevented it.

The most difficult thing I think I'll find is booze when it come to summer time, so hard going out and not drinking! Hoping by summer time I'll feel ok about if cos I'll have a nice little bump finger crossed

This time last year I was pregnant under the care of Prof Regan and Mr Rai. They are pretty much the big cheeses when it comes to miscarriage prevention in the UK and train most of the Drs specialising in it.

They told me to stick to the NHS guidelines.
Ie One small/regular cup a day is ok.

Mr Rai told me this while someone was handing out the team Costas coffee run ... His was a large one!

...and ladies Please please avoid the "if anything went wrong could I gave prevented it" mindset.

1. Most spontaneous losses are random and unavoidable. Others are usually caused by medical conditions.
2. I'd the worst happened ... even if you'd done everything ... If you're in this mindset it will gnaw at you. For example after one of my losses I became irrationally convinced getting the tube to zone 1 caused it. I'd done something different just before it happened. (I actually have a sticky blood condition as it turns out).
3. This way of thinking is used to sell quack medicine or restrict women's behaviour in many parts of the world- the USA for example. Blaming women "in advance" is horrible and has no basis in science. Don't let them brainwash you.

Disclaimer: talking about the odd coffee here, not deep sea diving on crack. Obviously avoid things that are medically proven. But other than that research or use the nhs guide.

Pregnancy does have risks - but there's actually not that much we can do to remove them bar going to our appointments and avoiding clear risks.

Taking the guidelines and making them 50% stricter won't actually make it 50% safer!

also, if you really want to go deep sea diving on crack, its still your choice to do so. Your choices are still yours to own.

squizita that is fantastic advice, well said.