Drinking tea or coffee during pregnancy REDUCES baby size even if you consume less than the ‘safe’ amount

Women who drink tea or coffee during pregnancy are more likely to have small babies, research suggests.

Even women who drink less than the ‘safe’ cutoff of 200mg caffeine – about two mugs of instant coffee or three cups of tea – are more at risk of having low-birth weight or premature newborns , according to Daily Mail.

The researchers, from University College Dublin, believe caffeine restricts blood flow to the placenta, affecting babies’ growth.

Results further found the women who consumed the most caffeine had babies weighing around 0.37lbs (170g) less than those who had the least.

 Even women who took in less than the ‘safe’ amount of 200mg of caffeine, saw significant affects. This is amount is deemed safe by the NHS.

Dr Chen said: ‘Based on the consistent associations we observed, and because many pregnancies are unplanned, we would recommend women who are pregnant or seeking to become pregnant at least limit their intakes of caffeinated coffee and tea.

‘High caffeine intake can result in restricted blood flow in the placenta which may subsequently affect fetal growth.

‘Caffeine can also cross the placenta readily, and because caffeine clearance slows as pregnancy progresses, caffeine accumulation may occur in fetal tissues.’  

The researchers worry people are unaware of how much caffeine their tea contains.

Tea has less caffeine than a cup of coffee, but the exact amount depends on the brew time, water temperature and type of tea.

The World Health Organization recommends women consume less than 300mg of caffeine a day during pregnancy.

However, the most recent research suggests this is too high, according to Dr De-Kun Li, a scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California division of research in Oakland.

He was not involved in the study, but found a link between caffeine consumption in pregnancy and miscarriage in a 2015 study.

‘Epidemiological findings based on self-reported caffeine consumption are usually not very precise,’ Dr Li said.

‘Biologically, it is unlikely that 300mg is risky while 299mg is safe. The message to women I would prefer would be “the less the better”.

‘My advice would be try to reduce as much as you can, if you can totally quit that would be even better.’ 

Another study found caffeine consumption during pregnancy appears to promote childhood obesity.

N.H.Kh