Coffee while pregnant- thoughts?

[ilovecatsabittoomuch]

Hi all, hope you are having a good day despite the rain.
I'm currently 12 weeks pregnant with a baby boy (and so happy!). I had a difficult first trimester and suffered from hyperemesis and severe fatigue to the point where I was signed off work and actually really struggled with all the changes going on in my body. I have found it pretty easy to give up everything you are meant to (alcohol, smoking, soft cheese etc) for the sake of bump but the one thing I just can't crack is coffee. It is literally what gets me out of bed in the morning and I would say I am now having 2 cups a day (before midday). Problem is, I have read SO many conflicting things online about the safety of coffee in pregnancy and whether or not to drink it that I just don't know what to do. If it was dangerous I would absolutely give it up no matter how hard it would be (and this would be a huge wrench for me) but there are a lot of articles saying it's fine to have 200mg (but a lot saying it's not!). Was wondering what you thought? Xx

Professor Emily Oster covered this topic very thoroughly in her book 'expecting better'. If i remember correctly there only becomes a noticeable risk to baby (mainly of low birth weight i think) at extremely high levels of caffeine consumption, e.g. 10-20 cups a day or something. I personally try to stick to one (fairly strong) cup of coffee plus 1 or two teas per day, but don't beat myself up on the days where I have an extra coffee. I am totally comfortable with this and do not think I am putting my baby at risk, but you have to do the research and find a level you are at ease with x

Coffee is fine, but t the caffeine in it is associated with miscarriage. Anything with caffeine is to be avoided where possible.

Switch to decaf.

I think the NHS say 200mg is ok (unless it’s changed since I had DD). Personally I used to do 1 strong cup first thing then switch to decaf.

I never thought about it as I went right off coffee when pregnant, didn't even like the smell and when not pregnant I enjoy coffee.

I would think it's OK to have a cup of coffee a day, not too strong, when you're pregnant.

Likewise max ill have is 1 proper coffee a day and then switch to decaff.. It doesn't taste as good but you get used to it

I don’t know what the current guidelines are but I stuck to the guidelines which were, at the time, equivalent to 1-2 cups of coffee during the day. But I avoided chocolate, tea, cola or anything else with caffeine. I adored my 2 cups of very strategically timed coffee every day!!

Thank you all very much for the advice! Oh gosh I didn't know that caffeine is linked with miscarriage... I am assuming this is only in high doses so 1-2 cups a day is ok?

OP - it depends on the current caffeine guidelines and how strong your coffee is, so you need to check that out. But yes, in my day, 1-2 cups of coffee was ok.

@peamad will get that book, can see on Amazon with next day delivery

I love my coffee - but when I was pregnant I followed the NHS guidelines on caffeine. Usually one cup a day, occasionally two if I was feeling especially crap.

Yeah, high doses (several cups a day)! High doses ditto with the low birth weight.

Personally think everything in moderation, I would say 2 cups is fine as long as you drink plenty of water in between :) maybe try to spread them out a bit more and switch to decaf in the afternoons?

@Rystall ok great thank you, the coffee I usually have is a flat white, so 2 flat whites a day in the morning, which looks ok mg-wise from a quick google search

My midwife said it depends how you make it. Instant = 2 cups are fine.
Filter or bean to cup machine = only 1 cup as it’s much stronger so 2 cups would take you over

Caffeine is water soluble, so there will be more caffeine in an Americano than in an espresso. I was pregnant in the Netherlands and we were advised to drink espresso if we fancied a coffee. Two a day was considered well within guidelines.
That said, I spent 9 months throwing up and couldn't touch the stuff at all.

Oh and if you buy it from a coffee shop they are all different strengths so it’s best to check on the website for how much caffeine is in each cup -
Flat white is stronger than a latte for example

If you want to switch to decaf I recommend the m&s instant decaf, it's really nice and I don't notice the lack of caffeine but I never switched back to caffeine after baby was born.

In each of my three pregnancies I went off coffee for about the first trimester.

After that I liked a couple of cups of fairly milky coffee a couple of times a day. It had to be coffee because the drinks machine at work made utterly foul tea as the only alternative.

No problems. Just moderation. Remember that there is a fair old dose of caffeine in chocolate, particularly if it is dark. Plenty of us craved that.

Silly question.... how do you know you’re having a boy already?

Glad to hear you're ordering the Emily Oster book OP. In the meantime please stop worrying!

I echo the advice to read Expecting Better - in this book you'll see that even the miscarriage link is not clear - of course the decision is yours and yours alone but for me I haven't counted milligrams of caffeine in either of my pregnancies (though I naturally drank none in first trimester and a bit less in 2nd and 3rd trimesters as the acidity didn't agree with me), a decent coffee is one of my greatest pleasures in life!

Another one here recommending the Emily Oster book, she will make you feel much better about your coffee consumption.

I have at most three caffeinated drinks a day, usually at home but sometimes one from a cafe. Admittedly I have eaten loads of chocolate ands haven't really taken any notice of the caffeine in that!

I assume OP had a harmony test and that's how she knows the sex of the baby.

Thank you so much for the advice! I feel a lot calmer :) can't wait to read the Expecting Better book.
@SaucySausageSandwiches we did the Panorama NIPT test at 10 weeks (you can do it from 9 weeks) which reads the foetal DNA in your blood for any genetic disorders (we decided knowledge is power and wanted to know early if any problems- luckily there are none) and there is the added benefit of them being able to check the gender via the presence of any Y chromosomes :) xx

Never gave up my coffee!

Both my children are absolutely fine

@ilovecatsabittoomuch

There is a link to miscarriage in early pregnancy, when your consuming over 200mg - which is the equivalent of about 2 large filters coffees or 3 espressos.
I am a real coffee addict, but due to miscarriage last year in this pregnancy I switched to decaf - now I'm 23 weeks I have one 'normal' filter style coffee in the morning, and then just 1-2 cups of tea.

In later pregnancy, over 200mg can impact the babies weight - but as a pp said, unless your having several cups, it would be hard to hit this level. My midwife said bigger risk can be soft drinks, energy drinks etc - as people can get into habit of having these plus coffees.