Is Caffeine Safe During Pregnancy?

When we see those two lines appearing that confirm we are definitely pregnant, there are many things that women give up immediately. One of the main ones, and sometimes the hardest, is caffeine. Our several cups in the morning are replaced with something like herbal tea.

There has been a great deal of research done into this in recent years, so although you Mom and Grandma may scoff at the idea and say that it did their kids no harm, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Drinking too much coffee or other caffeinated drinks has been directly linked to both premature labor and a low weight at birth.

So how much can we drink and still stay safe? 1 8 ounce cup filled with strong coffee is fine, as this gives you 300mg of caffeine that you have to stick to.

Drink any more than this recommended amount and their can be a slight risk to your child. The chances of having a miscarriage are also slightly raised if more than this is drunk during the first 3 months.

Good nutrition is more important than ever during pregnancy, and as caffeine has no nutritional values whatsoever, that is another good reason to give it the boot. There are many more reasons why caffeine should be eradicated from your diet during pregnancy.

Caffeine is also a well known stimulant, so can cause headaches, insomnia and also cause your heart rate to rise significantly. These all put stress on your growing fetus.

Caffeine can cause heartburn, which is already a nasty side effect of pregnancy. So why make it even worse by continuing to ingest caffeine?

So know you know that it is best for all concerned if you give up caffeine altogether; or at least cut down so that you are taking in no more than the recommended 300 milligrams per day. Don't think that you can still drink the same amount as normal if you change to decaffeinated coffee, as this still contains caffeine and you will go over your 300 mg.

Laura is a big soccer fan who recently opened up a group of soccer stores. Though none of them are online, she's written some very useful information at http://soccerstores.org.

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