What it is
How much coffee is okay? Caffeine crosses the placenta, and the baby clears it slowly. Your own body clears it slower too, so by the third trimester a cup lasts about twice as long in you. The question is where the line sits.
What's typical
ACOG's line works out to about one 12-ounce cup of home-brewed coffee a day. The number you will see online is 200 milligrams. A tall at a coffee shop is often over it. Energy drinks can blow past the line in one can. While nursing, a cup or two a day is considered fine for most.
What's known
ACOG says caffeine under that line is not linked to miscarriage or preterm birth. Above it, studies find a small rise in miscarriage and lower birth weight. Emily Oster, reading the same data, argues the risk below two or three cups is small. One cup is well studied and fine; more is a gray zone.
What helps
- Measure your mug once. Many hold 16 ounces, not 8.
- Switch the second cup to half-caf or decaf.
- If you quit cold, expect a headache for a few days. Tapering is gentler.
When to call someone
- Nownot an emergency topic.
- Todaya racing heart, shaking, or vomiting after an energy drink or caffeine pills.
- At your next visityou want help cutting back, or you have high blood pressure or palpitations and want to know your own line.
Who helps
Related
- Alcohol, caffeine, and breastfeedingFeeding Your Baby
- Nausea and vomiting in pregnancyPregnancy: Your Body
- Heartburn and refluxPregnancy: Your Body
- Can't sleep: pregnancy insomniaPregnancy: Your Body
What mothers here say
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Experiences and questions are their authors' own, not reviewed advice. The topic's steward lists the ones that help most in a credited digest once there is one. Unusual experiences stay, with a note.
Sources
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — Moderate caffeine consumption during pregnancy committee opinion
- Emily Oster — Expecting Better
- March of Dimes — Caffeine in pregnancy
Sources are named, not yet linked. The steward verifies each one and adds the link.
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