Did I cause my mc (TW: pregnancy loss)

[ncloss]

Hi, I have been feeling so much guilt and anxiety over this. (I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to post and will ask for it to be removed if so.)

When DD was 8 months I found out I was pregnant again. I was not happy about it and drank 1/2 3-shot espressos per day (so that's 141mg of caffeine for one, or 282mg if I had two which wasn't every day).

When I took another pregnancy test it was negative, and I lost the baby around 5.5 weeks.

I feel like I caused it to happen due to the caffeine and feel a lot of guilt.

The answer is no, absolutely not. Caffeine amounts in pregnancy is no more than 200mg a day as a guideline/average. But there are a few things to note.

Firstly if you occasionally go over this amount it's unlikely to cause any harm.

Secondly it's very hard to measure Caffeine intake exactly and there are certain countries where coffee is a way of life and these guidelines aren't observed. Miscarriage is no higher in those countries.

Thirdly and most importantly in the very early stages there isn't anything that you eat or drink which can really impact the pregnancy negatively.

There is nothing you did to cause this. I have suffered some early losses also. I understand questioning every decision you made during those week before the loss. But I promise you there are women who don't find out they are pregnant until 12 weeks and they have been drinking coffee and alcohol, eating all kinds of deli meat and cheeses and taking any medication they may need and there is no damage done.

Sometimes our bodies just recognise something is not quite right early on and stop supporting the pregnancy.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Be gentle and kind with yourself x

Sorry for your loss x

No you did not cause the miscarriage, please stop trying to blame yourself.