The UK Food Standards Agency has recommended that women limit caffeine intake to under 200 mg of caffeine per day, which is equivalent to 2 cups of instant of coffee.
In Summary:
Most recent studies conclude that caffeine intake during pregnancy does not impose a major public health issue with regard to fetal health. However, because of the controversy that exists with the use of caffeine and impaired fetal growth in pregnancy, it is probably advisable to reduce the intake of caffeine during pregnancy to under 300 mg/day (3 cups of coffee) and encourage drinking decaffeinated coffee as a substitute.
Estimates of caffeine intake that might be helpful for pregnant women: (150 ml portion)
| Coffee |
Tea |
Soft Drinks |
Cocoa |
| Brewed 115 mg |
Loose 39 mg |
15 mg |
4 mg |
| Boiled 90 mg |
Tea bags 39 mg |
|
|
| Instant 60 mg |
Herbal 0 mg |
|
|
Dark roast has less caffeine compared to light roast because roasting reduces the caffeine content.
Tea generally contains more caffeine that coffee but is generally brewed much more weakly.
1 g of chocolate bar = 0.3 mg caffeine.
Most drugs contain 50–100 mg of caffeine per tablet.
Dr. Brown, founder of Beauté de Maman, is a board-certified member of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a member of the American Medical Association, the Fairfield County Medical Association, Yale Obstetrical and Gynecological Society and the Women's Medical Association of Fairfield County. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University, completed her medical training at George Washington University Medical Center and completed her internship and residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Dr. Brown has a busy obstetrical practice in Stamford, Connecticut and, as a clinical attending, actively teaches residents from Stamford Hospital and medical students from Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York.
Copyright © Michele Brown. Permission to republish granted to Pregnancy.org, LLC.
