A new government survey suggests that pregnant women my be able to consume 
up to 300 milligrams of caffeine daily without additional danger to their
unborn offspring.

The study was conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development.  Researchers found that the equivalent of three 8-ounce 
cups of coffee did not appear to increase the risk of miscarriage nor
have an adverse effect on birth weight or head circumference.

Nonetheless the AMA and the US FDA are warning people that caffeine "is
not the kind of substance you can give a complete bill of health to."
"You have to use your common sense"and "Remember, caffeine is a drug
and a stimulant."

6 responses total.

My mom is a confirmed coffee drinker, and always has been.  Close to a pot a
day.  I am the oldest of 6 kids.  The only problems she had during pregnancy
and delivery was:  1) getting the Dr to believe that she was actually in labor
and about to drop the baby NOW (he once told her to go home that the baby
wouldn't be arriving for another 2-3 weeks, my sister was delivered less than
1/2 hour later), and 2) my youngest sister's cord was wrapped around her neck
(a somewhat common occurance).

I am a moderate coffee drinker, i.e. no more that 1 cup a day, with an
occasional caffinated Pepsi if we go out for dinner.  I had 2 miscarriages
and 2 c-sections.

One sister (jdg's wife Luann) drinks no caffiene at all (brings on severe
migraines) and has had 1 c-section and is currently having a very difficult
and tenuous 2nd pregnancy.

I'd say forget about all the hype currently going on and drink the caffiene :-)

I think the problem with all reports like this is that it's probably a
very individual thing.  For some, caffeine is fine, for others it might
be a problem.  Since it's so unpredictable, doctors say why take the 
chance?

two thoughts:  a parent support group leader once told me that her feeling
was that caffeine is God's gift to new mothers (bringing into this
the issue of nursing and caffeine).  She feels that it's important to
leave individual choices to moms when there is no scientific evidence
that moderate caffeine intake hurts mom or baby.
second thought:  right now we have now scientific evidence about adverse
effects of caffeine on the unborn, but back in the 50's and 60's doctors
were still encouraging pregnant moms to relax with an alcoholic beverage
on a daily basis.  With what we now know about fetal alcohol syndrome, it's 
a little worrisome.  
As a caffeine addict (a moderate one though) I felt it was important to reduce
my caffeine intake during pregnancy and nursing.  I buy both caff. and decaf
and mix the two 50:50 in a coffee can and make myself half a pot of "half-caff"
every morning.  I've done this through both of my pregnancies and while 
nursing both of my kids for a year and a half each--no problems at all, so I
feel this is a good compromise solution.

As with most research; we often only hear about the parts the media believes
will sell papers/air-time.  There are still studies showing that alcohol is 
very unlikely to be harmful, and quite easily beneficial to pregnant/new moms.
This is not "en vogue" so you rarely hear about it.  I like to keep in mind
that Dr. Spock the Mr. Know-it-all of the infant set; has to re-write his
book every few years or so in order to correct all his "facts".

I loved breast feeding my 1st one when La Leche League and even my doctors
advocated a beer while nursng to help promote lactation and letdown.
Now they say that  alcohol goes through the milk!  No fun!

My OBs have both said they don't think a small amount of alcohol or caffein is
harmful, but I abstain because I'm more comfortable with not worrying at all.

You know, I drank more the year I was pregnant with Timothy than any time 
before or since.  (for me, that's not much- if I have 1/2 a glass of wine
once a week, that's pretty heavy consumption)  As it happens, both my
brother and a friend whose little barn I was managing are OBGYN's, and 
I had more occasion to visit Ronn than I had been able to before.  Both of
them keep decent bars and would offer me a bit of something when I was 
around.  Lovely! (I drink so little, it's not generally worth it for me
to buy the expensive stuff I like and cart it around for years) Well, they
both pointed out to me that the American public does not rerpond well to
calls for moderation, so the AMA (itself prone to extremes of course) has
promulgated the "NO ALCHOHOL" myth to keep people from overindulging at
times when the poor wee one's nervous system is developing or fragile. If
one has a degree of sense, there's nothing to panic about.  Probably the
same is true of caffeine.

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