Do you drink coffee while pregnant?

Question

Sometimes I need my morning cup. Am I the only one?

Answer 1

Nope, you're not alone.  I definitely avoided coffee during the first trimester because I had a threatened miscarriage and didn't want to risk anything.

Once I felt safe and the baby was obviously doing well, I now treat myself to the occasional cup of coffee.  I try for decaf when it is available, but a cup of high-test once a day is fine.  You can have up to two without having to worry about anything.

Answer 2

I'm not a coffee drinker to begin with, so no, I never did while pregnant either.  If you MUST drink coffee, try switching to decaf.  Otherwise, its always best to talk to your doctor about things like this.  He knows more about your exact situation than all of us.  If he says its OK, then by all means, drink away.

Answer 3

no you really should not.  

Answer 4

I've had 2 cups or coffee everyday with both of my pregnancies and my 9 yr old is perfectly healthy . I'm due in 14 days with #2 and she is perfect as well .    

Answer 5

It's not a good idea to drink coffee when you're pregnant. Caffeine is a diuretic and can wash away calcium and other nutrients that the baby needs. Also, caffeine's stimulating effects may make those already delightful mood swings even more volatile and intense.

http://whattoexpect.com/index.aspx?puid=...

Answer 6

a cup of coffee is fine.

i drank a mug every morning throughout my whole first pregnancy, not only did the doctor say it was FINE but my son is 7.5 months old now and perfectly healthy.

Answer 7

Caffeine is a stimulant; it increases your heart rate and metabolism, which in turn affects your developing baby. But while unremitting stress isn't healthy, brief bouts of fetal stress, such as that your baby would feel after you drink a cup of coffee, shouldn't cause him any harm. It's akin to your dashing to the bus, another situation that briefly boosts your heart rate and metabolism.

Anyone who drinks coffee regularly knows that it can be addictive and that large amounts can also cause insomnia, nervousness, and headaches. It's also a diuretic, which causes your body to lose water and other fluids, all of which you need to maintain a healthy pregnancy.

Tea and coffee can also hamper your body's ability to absorb iron if you drink it with a meal or within half an hour of a meal.

So you should really try to avoid it at all costs..recent studies have also found that it doubles the risk of miscarriage...

Good luck and congrats on the little one! :o)

Answer 8

Funny thing, I decided not to give up my 1-2 large mugs of coffee while pregnant with all of my kids and I laugh about it to this day because my kids are bigger and smarter than the average, so it did them no harm.  Actually, I would drink coffee while breastfeeding the first couple weeks to keep them awake during daytime and sleep at night, as most newborns have their schedule reversed.  If you're healthy why not?

Answer 9

no of course you aren't, many studies have said that one cup a day is very unlikely to cause any problems... just don't have 30 :)

myself i am a Coke drinker, i have cut back to mostly caffeine-free cokes but if i'm at a restaurant then i go with regular coke and sometimes i take one of my hubby's real cokes too

Answer 10

No, you're not alone.  My mother drank a lot more than one cup of coffee per day all throughout her pregnancies, and I'm sure a lot of women did before research said it could cause problems.

I turned out fine, my brother is healthy as a horse and turned out fine, and so did most of America.

I don't drink coffee, but I don't like coffee much.

I DO enjoy my morning can of coke and my mid-evening non-decaf cup of tea, though.  They don't make decaf Earl Grey that I've found.

Honestly, I think the key to anything is moderation.  You can die from drinking too much WATER if you want to put the word "harmful" into perspective.   (I'm talking about a gallon in less than 45 minutes).  Caffeine is a poison in high doses, so think how much a fetus can take -- not nearly as much as we can.

However, most research points to the fact that 1 or 2 cups of coffee isn't going to damage you or the baby unless something is already wrong.  For instance, if you develop preecampsia, if you developed heart palpitations or an overly fast pulse, then you'd need to cut out the caffeine.

Ask your doctor or midwife.  They'll tell you their opinion on the matter just like the rest of us.  There is no reason why we or you can't read the research as well as they can.  The research goes both ways, normally leaning toward "moderation is key" like I said.

My midwife told me that my caffeine habits are of absolutely no concern and that I should not try to micromanage my pregnancy if that style is not for me.  For instance, I currently and have since I was little slept on my RIGHT side not my LEFT side -- my goodness, how did women and babies survive pregnancy sleepin on their right side before they knew that the left promotes better blood flow?!    -- Why, they probably naturally turned to the side that made .. them .. most.. comfortable.  

I feel people have given up listening to their bodies and own minds and intuition sometimes in favor of listening to  a lone voice of advice and online threads.  Eh, the body knows what's up.

So, if it makes you uncomfortable in any way to continue your caffeine drinking -- don't do it!   If you feel like it won't hurt anything and feel fine doing it and your doc/midwife gives you no reason not to, then by all means keep doing it!

Answer 11

Well I didn't drink coffee, but I did drink tea. I know I shouldn't have, but I did - I became addicted hahaha! But I didn't drink a lot every day just the odd cup.. my mom wouldn't let me have anymore than that!

Answer 12

i tried to stop drinking coffee, so i started drinking decaf. then i found out it could cause stretch marks and that made me quit cold turkey. but i started getting stretch marks anyway, and in my pregnancy book it says that 1-2 cups a day especially decaf should be fine. so now i drink like one iced coffee in the mornings when i'm really tired, it's just creepy because my baby starts moving a lot! so i drink it really slowly, sometimes i don't even drink the whole cup, actually i rarely do. i only have 3 weeks to go, good luck, don 't feel bad!  

Answer 13

Yes, you are fine. I have my morning cup. 1-2 cups/300mg a day is fine.

Answer 14

It was really hard to quit at the beginning, I would scoop 3 scoops of decaf to one scoop of regular and have one cup of that, but then coffee started to make me feel sick, so I gave it up completely.  

Answer 15

I drink one cup of decaf coffee followed by a glass of water!  You should try to find your "upper" in natural foods/drinks like water, fruits and carbs.  Having a cup of fresh fruit & toast usually gives me enough energy to get me through a morning!

Answer 16

It's not a good idea... caffeine can be harmful to the developing fetus.  I drank a pot in the morning (literally 12 cups to get my day started) and then another pot after work to get me through to bedtime.  Quit drinking it cold turkey when I found out I'm pregnant... my baby is worth it.

Answer 17

I completely gave it up in the first trimester.  Didn't really want it and also know that that is the most risky time for a miscarriage.

Now, I allow myself a half cup on weekend mornings and every once and a while during the week when I feel really, really tired.  Because I drink so little now, it only takes a small cup to "get me going".

I probably drink a total of 2 cups of coffee a week.

Answer 18

I drink decaf sometimes, but I haven't had a cup with caffeine since I found out I was pregnant.  I have had a can of coke/dr. pepper, though, cause they have way less caffeine than coffee does.  Good luck!

Answer 19

I have a cup in the morning, but it's half caf. Just enough to wake me up:) I don't have anymore caffeine the rest of the day.  

Answer 20

It is a personal choice and doctors will have varying recommendations (so talk to yours to find out what he or she thinks).

However, the general rule is that if you do choose to have some caffeine, you need to keep it below 300 mg a day - and one cup of coffee in the morning is WELL within that limit.

Answer 21

Coffee is fine as long as you limit it to 150 mg of caffeine a day.  Drink decaf, and it won't matter.

Answer 22

I was recommended that I shouldn't have more than 300 mgs of caffeine a day. I'm not sure what it works out as but I think its roughly 5 cups a day. Caffein in the 1st 3 months of pregnancy can have an effect on the neural tube development of the fetus. As long as you stay within the recommended daily allowance and keep taking your folic acid, which helps the development of the neural tube also, you'll be fine :)

The website below has a list of how much caffeine is in certain drinks.

Congratulations and good luck!  

Answer 23

No, definitely not. I didn't drink hardly any in my 1st trimester, only because I couldn't even stand the smell. However, since passing 12 weeks I drink about 1 - 2 cups a day. My midwife said if I drank around 8 cups then she'd be worried, but was completely fine when I told her about the 1 - 2 cups. I've also heard that plunger coffee is the best, so maybe try and stick with that rather than instant. Enjoy!