“Health recommendations concerning caffeine consumption during pregnancy are in need of radical revision…”
Pregnant women should avoid all caffeine, according to a new study.
New research, conducted by Professor Jack James of Reykjavik University in Iceland, suggests that women who are pregnant, or planning on getting pregnant, should cut caffeine from their diets.
The study, published in the BMJ Evidence Based Medicine journal, found that caffeine can increase the risk of stillbirth and miscarriage.
“Current advice such as that issued by […] the NHS is not consistent with the level of threat indicated by biological plausibility of harm and extensive empirical evidence of actual harm,” said Prof James.
“Accordingly, current health recommendations concerning caffeine consumption during pregnancy are in need of radical revision.
“Specifically, the cumulative scientific evidence supports pregnant women and women contemplating pregnancy being advised to avoid caffeine.”
Currently, pregnant women are told they can safely consume 200 milligrams of caffeine per day.
While this new study suggests that women who are expecting should cut back on caffeine entirely, others have argued that a limited caffeine intake is completely safe.
“Pregnant women do not need to completely cut out caffeine, as this paper suggests,” Daghni Rajasingham, consultant obstetrician and spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, told Sky News.
“The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ advice to limit caffeine intake to 200 milligrams per day – the equivalent to two cups of instant coffee – still stands.
“This paper does not supersede all the other evidence that has found that a limited intake of caffeine is safe for the majority of pregnancy women.”
