Caffeine in the form of coffee is one of the most loved beverages in the entire world. During pregnancy you may develop a craving for caffeine. However, you should limit or avoid the use of caffeine during pregnancy. Taking caffeine in more than the desired amount can be harmful to both- you and your baby, such as it can cause low birth weight of the baby.
Caffeine is not only present in coffee but also in tea, chocolates, and in some over the counter drugs, especially those used to treat headache.
Caffeine is a diuretic, which may increase your blood pressure and heart rate. Increase in any of these during pregnancy can affect you and your baby’s health. It may also increase the loss of water due to frequent urination. An excessive amount of caffeine can also cause heartburn thereby leading to acidity in stomach or diarrhoea.
During pregnancy, your body undergoes a variety of changes, due to which it may be difficult for your body to breakdown the caffeine. This results in presence of large amount of caffeine in your blood stream. This breakdown of caffeine becomes more difficult with each trimester, taking maximum time during the third trimester.
Another very important thing to consider is that during pregnancy your body produces very less amount of iron. Consuming large quantity of caffeine makes iron production more difficult. This further deprives the baby of iron.
Caffeine, if passes to the baby through placenta, can alter your and your baby’s sleeping pattern. Excessive caffeine intake can decrease the growth of fetus and sometimes cause miscarriage.
To prevent these side-effects, researchers have suggested that a pregnant woman should limit the caffeine intake to less than 200 milligrams per day, which is equal to 11-ounce cup of coffee.
Below is a list of few caffeine rich foods and brews:
The amount of caffeine in the below mentioned foods/ brews depend on the brand, the method of preparation and the cup in which it is served.
- Generic brewed coffee
- Starbucks brewed coffee
- Dunkin’ Donuts brewed coffee
- Starbucks espresso
- Generic espresso
- Brewed black tea
- Brewed green tea
- Unsweetened instant tea
- Coke/ diet coke
- Pepsi
- Sprite
- Red bull energy drink
- hot cocoa
- dark and milk chocolate
- chocolate milk
Apart from the above foods, certain medicines such as those used for headache or flu also contain caffeine in little quantity.
Tips for reducing caffeine during pregnancy:
You can reduce your caffeine intake during pregnancy by:
- Adding more milk and less coffee to your usual caffeinated drinks.
- Reducing the time of tea bag in your tea.
- Avoiding too much use of anti-stretch mark lotions as they contain cocoa butter, which may have very little amount of caffeine.
Withdrawal symptoms of caffeine may include headache, dizziness, weakness, and tiredness along with concentration problems. Therefore, it is better to ingest less caffeine during pregnancy. Different researches suggest different recommendation of caffeine per day during pregnancy. Hence, it is always best to discuss it with your health care provider.