Pregnancy

Recommendations for caffeine intake during pregnancy

Evidence for reducing coffee intake during pregnancy

Current recommendations are that caffeine intake should be limited during pregnancy. However at present, there are limited numbers of robust intervention studies looking at the relationship between coffee consumption and pregnancy specifically. One well-designed, intervention study carried out in Holland in 2009¹ found that restricting the caffeine intake of over 600 pregnant women who were regular coffee drinkers, by 2 cups of coffee a day, had no effect on length of gestation and birth weight.

Official recommendations for caffeine intake during pregnancy

Recommendations for caffeine intake during pregnancy vary between countries.

• The UK Food Standards Agency and March of the Dimes in the USA both suggest an upper limit of 200mg caffeine per day from all sources.
• The American Dietetic Association suggests maintaining the commonly accepted limit of 300mg per day as a safe upper limit in its 2008 Position Paper.
• This is in line with the EU Scientific Committee on Food which states “While intakes (of caffeine) up to 300mg/day appear to be safe, the possible question of effects on pregnancy and the offspring at regular intakes above 300mg/day remains open.”