Is It Safe To Have My Morning Cup Of Coffee During Pregnancy
Morning coffee has become indispensable for most of us to start off the day fresh. Yes, coffee is a stimulant and is addictive.
Coffee contains caffeine, a stimulant, which is highly addictive for you and your baby in the womb. It causes withdrawal symptoms as insomnia, nervousness, headache and risks of miscarriage, low birth weight and stillborn babies.
So cut down your daily intake of coffee during pregnancy by restricting coffee. Other products like caffeinated drinks and over the counter cold and fever medications also contain hidden caffeine. Do know that a cup of instant coffee contains 75mg while one brewed coffee contains 100mg caffeine, a cup of tea contains 50mg, a can of cola 40mg, a can of energy drink 80mg and a 50mg bar of chocolate 25mg caffeine.
An issue of ‘American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology’ wrote that pregnant women consuming more than 200mg of caffeine a day had twice the risk of miscarriage than those consuming non-caffeine beverages. Caffeine reaches the fetus, which finds it difficult to metabolize it thereby affecting fetus cell development and leading to decreased blood flow in the placenta.
In addition caffeine is a diuretic and increases stress levels for the fetus. Besides it carries risks of stillbirth, low birth weight and increased risk in male child with undescended testes .
In addition you could experience faster breathing and heart rates and insomnia immediately after childbirth. Coffee decreases your body’s ability to keep your homocysteine and cholesterol levels under check leading to depletion of folate, B12, B6, and calcium, which are crucial for neural and skeletal development in the fetus.
Chicory (herbal coffee) is an ideal caffeine-free coffee substitute that could satisfy your cravings for coffee. However you may be gifted if your fondness for coffee decreases in the first trimester of pregnancy.
The best alternative is green tea. It contains much less caffeine and has wonderful health benefits. Herbal teas are safer, but it is best to stick to safe herbs like mint, chamomile, or fruit teas and avoid herbs like ephedra, mugwort, and cohosh.
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