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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Serious Caffeine Intake

9 replies

caffeinepanic · 02/10/2023 04:08

I'm in a total panic, I'm about 9 1/2 weeks pregnant and stupidly haven't changed my caffeine habit. I've just calculated it and I've been drinking about 500 to 1000 mg everyday - for the whole pregnancy.

There's so much info on the internet about alcohol, but caffeine is a bit empty - just some studies linking it to lower IQ

Any midwives etc able to offer any advice? I'm seriously panicked!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Mummy08m · 02/10/2023 04:45

You're still early on, just try and cut back from now on. What's done is done. Try decaf coffee, or switching to other hot drinks like peppermint tea or horlicks (I love horlicks when I'm pg).

I don't think there are enough studies to tell you what the specific harms of caffeine are in the first few weeks in particular... I'm not a midwife though just a mum.

PickledScrump · 02/10/2023 06:17

I haven’t seen anything linking it to low IQ but there are risks. It’s still early so it’s unlikely you have caused any issues but I would really try to get a curb on it and look for alternatives. No point panicking about it now

redteapot · 02/10/2023 06:32

Don't panic - you're still early on so just adjust your intake now and it will be fine. You still have 30 weeks for baby to benefit from the adjustments 😊
You will find that there is lots to panic about when you are pregnant, just do the best that you can do for you and baby, and if something passes you by like this then just chalk it up and don't dwell on it - you will be fine xxx

Original poster

caffeinepanic · 02/10/2023 06:46

@PickledScrump

That looks like "general advice" rather than specific research. General advice is good - but it omits a lot. Here's a study:

Prenatal Caffeine Exposure and Child IQ at Age 5.5 Years: The EDEN Mother-Child Cohort - PubMed

We found an association between caffeine intake during pregnancy and impaired cognitive development in offspring, a result in line with animal data. More epidemiologic and biologically grounded research is needed to determine whether this association i...

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26444074

OP posts:

Original poster

caffeinepanic · 02/10/2023 08:14

@redteapot

Thanks, I'll go down to tea from now, then onto nothing in a week or two.

OP posts:

redteapot · 02/10/2023 08:29

I found that one caffeinated tea and one coffee a day worked out within the guidance (just had baby no.2 last week). If you like tea, Yorkshire Decaf is the best!

PickledScrump · 02/10/2023 08:31

@caffeinepanic you asked for advice in your post not specific research, the page I showed was an nhs website.

Original poster

caffeinepanic · 02/10/2023 08:59

@PickledScrump

I'm sorry, I was a bit rude. You're right

OP posts:

Intos · 31/12/2023 15:02

Please please don’t worry about what is done. Move forward. Higher IQ is linked with breastfeeding so I’d recommend BF for a year, two if you can!

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