Pregnancy and Coffee?

[Scout]

I am hoping you all can help since I am sure many of you have been threw this so any help would be great. My SIL is planning on gettting pregnant this year. She has been reading "What to Expect When Your Expecting". She read about not drinking caffeine when your pregnant. She said she typically drinks two-three cups of coffe in the morning. Last weekend she went cold turkey and said it was horrible. She said she felt tired all day. What have other people done? Did you stop drinking coffee? She was asking me about any other "energy" drinks that she might try that would be safe.
We talked about her switching to decaf but she thinks she will still be tired since it doesn't have the caffeine. Any input would be great.

Thanks
Anne

[funnybone]

I love coffee but while pregnant I couldn't stand the smell of it. It was the ONLY thing that ever made me nautious. She may want to switch to decaf instead. My SIL drank coffee galore while pregnant, she couldn't give it up, and her kids are healthy and fine.

[AnnaSue]

Since she isn't pregnant yet, could she maybe try cutting back more slowly rather than going cold turkey? I'm not a coffee drinker though, so I didn't have to go through that when I got pregnant, and I'm not sure how it would work.

[lhall]

I believe current research shows that a moderate amount of caffiene is fine. So, one cup a day should be not problem.

Leigh

[penguin]

Leigh is right that moderate amounts of caffiene are commonly considered ok. Don't throw tomatoes at me if you like it, but IMHO What to Expect When You're Expecting is VERY extreme. What to Eat When You're Expecting (by the same people) is also very extreme. (Example: They tell you to only consume all-natural foods (no sugar, only fruit juice concentrate) and allow treats (i.e. 1/2 cup low-fat ice cream) once a week!!!!!)

Anyway, I used to drink lots of coffee (and some diet soda) before I became pregnant (I'm currently 24 weeks). A few months before we started trying, I slowly weaned myself from 2-3 cups to 1 cup of regular coffee per day. Then I mixed 1/2 regular and 1/2 decaf for my one cup. I went pretty much cold turkey on the diet soda (except for caffiene-free). Once I became pregnant, the smell of coffee was revolting and I couldn't drink it until I was about 16-20 weeks along. At that point I no longer "needed" the caffiene so I just drank decaf. Hope that helps!

Oh, and I would stay away from the "energy" drinks since most contain caffiene and herbs or supplements considered a bit dangerous for pregnant women.

[claire797]

If she went cold turkey, then isn't the horrible part over?

I went cold turkey the minute I found out I was pregnant. Yes, I was tired. Yes, I had a headache all day. However, one day of discomfort and minor inconvenience for me was better than 9 months of worrying about whether I was hurting the baby.

While I agree that What To Expect When You're Expecting is VERY extreme in the diet department, there is enough research out there saying that caffeine early on in pregnancy has been shown to cause miscarriages. Why risk it?

[mrswaz]

I am 3-cupper myself. When I found out I was pregnant, I passed on the coffee cold turkey as well, occassionally having a cup when out or at a friend's for a chat. I guess I really didn't notice much of the effects of not having coffee. The headaches only lasted a few days. However, once I was in my third trimester, I avoided caffeine at all costs. I had a huge piece of tiramisu while out to dinner one night, and ended up awake all night because DD was rocking and rolling all night long. Ugh.

I wouldn't put a drop of an "energy booster" into my system while pregnant. So little is known about any of them, I would be afraid of what they might do to my child. I drank a lot of homemade smoothies, just fruit, yogurt, and ice, and made out just fine. JMO.

[Scout]

Thanks for all the input. I will pass your information on to her and let her make the decision of what she wants to do. Also it is helpful to hear that you guys think the book is "extreme" in the dietary area. I was a little worried that she was taking all of the information to heart. Some maybe I can help her get through some of the information and help her decide what is most important.

Thanks again everybody. You have once again been very helpful.

Anne

[beccathebaker]

Hi Anne-

As a nutritionist who works exclusively with pregnant women and their infants and children at WIC, I deal with this question all the time. First off, I must admit that I have many clients who drink coffee and soda, smoke cigarettes, and drink all through their pregnancy and have beautiful, healthy babies. NOT that I am advocating any of those behaviors!!

What I usually tell women is to slowly try weaning themselves down (exactly like what Penguin described) by mixing half decaf, half-regular until they are drinking at most 1 cup of caffeine a day. The evidence is still not solid on the subject, but I always wonder why anyone would risk it. Often after giving up caffeine you have a few awful days but then it's over. I'll tell my clients to pick a weekend when they don't necessarily have many plans and can just stick around the house. Turn it into a detox weekend- take nice long baths, cook some nice food, paint your toenails...etc...

Good luck to your sister in law. I definately believe that the most important part of pregnancy is a positive attitude without any guilt, so tell her not to worry too much.

-Becca

[Chiffonade]

Eating too much can be a problem during pregnancy because women figure we're going to blow up anyway, so why not indulge? My OB/Gyn was not a "weight Nazi" which in hindsight, I wish she were.

But the REAL problem (assuming the mother is a non-smoker) is coffee. I believe coffee (which I was NOT warned about) caused my daughter to be born with an arrhythmia. I didn't cut down at all on caffeine (this was 14 years go). She was first discovered to have the arrhythmia with 2 weeks remaining in utero. I had to cut out coffee completely (which caused me to have ferocious headaches) and be monitored very frequently. She was born with one extra beat every 5, then it decreased to one extra beat every 20. Eventually, the arrhythmia disappeared.

Arrhythmia is not unusual among newborns and it usually works itself out as soon as the heart "teaches" itself what its proper rhythm should be. However, I would have liked to have been sufficiently warned about the possible correlation of coffee with a racing heartbeat in my baby.

[DocAgocs]

What to Eat When You're Expecting (by the same people) is also very extreme. (Example: They tell you to only consume all-natural foods (no sugar, only fruit juice concentrate) and allow treats (i.e. 1/2 cup low-fat ice cream) once a week!!!!!)

This is hardly extreme. It's simply good advice for anyone, regardless of whether they're pregnant or not. Eating a bunch of sugar has no positive physiological effect in the human body whatsoever. It has dozens of detrimental effects. Why load up on processed, chemical-laden junk food when there are things that will actually support and improve your health on hand (albeit tucked into a little corner of the supermarket)?

Anyway, with caffeine, be careful because it is added into so many things. If you can quit it altogether and be sane with that, then go for it. I wouldn't have more than one can of caffeine pop or one cup of coffee per day while pregnant. The reason I say "be sane" with the decision is that there is a flip-side to the coin. If you quit smoking or stop drinking all caffeine and you get stressed and freak out about it and are totally miserable about it, you're dumping some nasty hormones and maybe making conditions worse for the baby than if you were engaging in vices and happy. I don't say that you should drink, smoke and do drugs while pregnant, but sometimes the stress caused by the behavior alteration is worse than the effects of the behavior to begin with.