regular or decaf tea?

[montym]

at only 8 weeks preg I am trying to do the right thing and avoid the stuff they tell you is bad for you. I have switched on to decaf tea, only to be told they use formaldehyde to remove the caffeine! Doesn't sound like too much of a healthy option to me! Think I'll be going back to my regular cuppa.

You can have a couple of cups of tea with no problem, I'm sure I read somewhere that 8 a day is when you need to start cutting down!

A couple of cups of tea a day is fine. Don't bother with decaff tea, it worse for you than the caffeine. I drank redbush tea when I was pregnant, it was really lovely and naturally caffeine free and does feel like a proper cuppa once you get used to it.

you can get decaf tea that's not had chemicals used though - look for the organic or fair trade ones! I've switched to decaf because I get pregnancy insomnia so I want to stay away from any stimulants but find a cup of tea lovely before bed - I agree that there's no reason not to have a couple cups of regular tea a day though.

Oh dear - I have been drinking Tetly D-caf the whole way through and I am 35 weeks.....!

this was one of my many 'mini panic' moments about six weeks ago! I was so worried that my cups of tea had done my baby harm and thankfully some lovely ladies on here to told me not to stress.
I've looked into it and a few cups are fine. You are right about decaf being full of rubbish so go for a nice organic normal one - I love clipper. Look for the green box in the supermarket.
The way I see it is women have been drinking tea for years. Yes there is a link between miscarriage and caffine but I don't think a few cups of tea a day would put enough caffine in your system.
But if you are worried ask your midwife - mine laughed at me when I brought it up so that speaks volumes!
What I would recommend is that you make sure you have execptionally good biscuits with your cupa!

oh bugger i switched to decaf cause i thought it was the right thing to do! won't bother replacing those when they run out then!

hello swmum, nice to see you. I second your advice about exceptionally good biscuits. They should be available on prescription for pregnant women.

bluebella, I wouldn't worry too much, just go out and buy some of the proper stuff and enjoy a good few guilt free cuppas in your last few weeks.

Not only did I switch to decaf because I thought it was the right thing to do (that and I have problems sleeping at the best of times) but thanks to my constant nagging, work have bought boxes and boxes of tetley decaf for me .

There's too many do's and donts with this pregnancy malarky - I give up!

something here about risks of decaff process..http://preventdisease.com/home/weeklywellness167.shtml t link

That said think levels of caffeine in tea lower than coffee and less soluble so I wouldnt worry unduly.

Since the midwives at my early pregnancy unit encouraged me to have a cup of tea to help me relax after confirming that I wasn't miscarrying (back in 2006) I figure tea is fine during pregnancy!

I don't mind redbush but I have carried on drinking regular tea. I don't usually drink more than four cups a day. The whole reason I drink tea is for the caffeine lol!

I've never heard of decaffinated tea being bad for you, and it's bound to be better for your baby than caffeine! So I'm sticking to decaf while pregnant

I guess all things in moderation. As long as we are not drinking pints of it we'll be ok with either.

I WISH I could still drink tea, I get most of my fluids from it and it's a great pleasure in my life. Sad maybe, but it's warm, thirst-quenching and the only drink I really like, apart from a morning coffee. But when pregnant my body suddenly hates it, it starts to taste really dirty and rancid. I miss the real taste a lot and it's the one deprivation of pregnancy that gets to me! Especially as I have to regularly remind myself to drink water (loathe sweet drinks in general, despite a sweet tooth for food) now. I'm certain a couple of cups would do no harm, but unfortunately they just taste minging.

I've completely gone off chocolate as well. The only things I'm able to relish are mashed potato, steamed carrots, overcooked fresh fish, and rice pudding. Just about everything interesting makes me retch. And so do the Pregnacare pills - which I have no choice about - ewwww.