Drinking Coffee During Pregnancy: Is it Safe?
In what is no doubt some really great news for moms who can't resist having a cup o' joe every morning, there is new research showing that drinking coffee during pregnancy won't give your child behavior problems later in life. (Whew!)
The research showed that the children of mothers who drank up to three cups of coffee per day while pregnant did not have a larger risk of being inattentive than moms who did not drink any at all. (I guess caffeine isn't as bad as we thought.)
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When I was pregnant with my son, I was very concerned with what foods and drinks I needed to avoid to make sure he developed properly and stayed healthy -- but the thought of having to give up my morning coffee ritual almost seemed like too much to take. What can I say? Mama loves her java.
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I talked things over with my doctor, and she advised me to limit my intake to one cup per day, but insisted that having that amount was perfectly safe and would not have a negative effect on my baby. I took her words to heart and enjoyed one mug of coffee every day until something very strange suddenly happened.
Somewhere in the middle of my second trimester, I developed a total aversion to the taste and smell of coffee. Actually, getting so much as a whiff of a freshly brewed pot almost made me gag. Though I had no intention of giving it up, I was forced to surrender my morning cup at that point, and it took me quite some time after I had my son to be able to drink it again.
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I always wondered whether it was body's way of telling me having even a small amount of caffeine wasn't healthy for my baby -- like my maternal instincts were already kicking in or something. I figured if I hated it so much, then it just HAD to be bad for the baby. But after hearing about this study, I guess it was just some sort of bizarre fluke?
Whatever the reason for my sudden break-up with my java, I don't think I'd hesitate to try drinking a cup a day if I were to become pregnant again. At least this new research brings some peace of mind that enjoying a cup (or three) won't make my child a hyperactive kindergartner.
Have you been drinking coffee during your pregnancy?
Image via Phil Monger/Flickr
Written by Mary Fischer on CafeMom's blog, The Stir.
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