Small tips to know about pregnant women drinking coffee

Many pregnant women drink coffee or drinks containing caffeine as a way to stimulate concentration, repel fatigue in the morning. However, you should only drink a reasonable amount to avoid affecting mother and baby.

Coffee and tea are two of the popular caffeinated drinks, enjoyed everywhere. When enjoyed in moderate amounts, caffeine will increase alertness in the body, helping you to work more efficiently. However, if you are a "coffee addict", you will wonder if it is safe for pregnant women to drink coffee? The following article, aFamilyToday Health will help pregnant mothers answer the above question as well as the safe amount of coffee you can drink.

How much coffee do pregnant women drink?

Pregnant women can absorb up to 200mg of caffeine a day. In other words, you can drink one and a half cups of coffee or two cups of instant coffee a day to quench your caffeine cravings. However, pregnant mothers should note that limiting caffeine-containing drinks during pregnancy is still the right thing to do.

What if pregnant women drink too much coffee?

Your body can tolerate an average amount of caffeine per day. Overuse of caffeinated beverages will cause adverse side effects for both you and your baby.

1. Effects of caffeine on pregnant women

Caffeine is a stimulant, and too much of it can raise your blood pressure during pregnancy and increase your heart rate, causing anxiety, insomnia or trouble sleeping.

Caffeine is also used as a diuretic and increases the frequency of bowel movements. However, this phenomenon will inadvertently dehydrate the body

Regularly drinking coffee or caffeinated beverages can cause dependence. When pregnant women abstain from coffee abruptly, you will most likely experience symptoms such as irritability, fatigue and headache.

2. The effects of caffeine on the fetus

Caffeine can also cross the placenta and affect the developing organs in the fetus as the baby is unable to process it.

Pregnant women drink coffee or drinks high in caffeine also stimulate the fetus to keep the baby active for a long time.

Caffeine will also cause the fetal heartbeat to beat faster, leading to sleep disturbances or irregular heartbeat.

Caffeinated beverages

For most people, caffeine is synonymous with coffee. But did you know that some other drinks and solid foods also contain a certain amount of caffeine? In fact, even foods labeled as decaffeinated or decaffeinated can contain traces of this substance.

Below is a list of caffeine-containing foods and beverages. However, this metric may change over time and depend on certain factors.

Product Volume of caffeine
(mg)

Coffee phin240ml135

Coffee pack 240ml95

Decaf240ml2 coffee

Tea decaf1 filter bag 2

Black tea 1 filter bag 40

Green tea 1 filter bag 20

Soft drink350ml35

Energy drinks350ml80

In addition to caffeine, energy drinks also often contain high amounts of added sugar or artificial sweeteners, making them lack nutritional value. This drink also contains various herbs, such as ginseng, which are considered unsafe for pregnant women. Furthermore, you should avoid certain herbal teas during pregnancy, including those made from fenugreek, licorice root tea or chicory root tea.

Medicines may also contain caffeine

Some pain relievers, especially cold and flu medications, contain caffeine to counteract their sedative effects. Therefore, read the ingredients carefully before use and ask your pharmacist if the medicine you want to buy will cause drowsiness.

Coffee substitute for pregnant mothers

Moderate coffee drinking won't do any harm, but if you want to reduce or give up coffee altogether, there are safer, less caffeine alternatives for you:

Green Tea: Green or herbal teas contain less caffeine and are also the safest drink for you

Instant Coffee: Choose instant coffee instead of filter coffee. Half a teaspoon dissolved with fresh milk will be a good choice for pregnant women

Decaf Coffee : Decaf coffee is the type of coffee that has extracted almost all caffeine content. If you suffer from gestational diabetes but still love coffee, do not skip decaf coffee.

Lemon juice: This drink is completely free of caffeine or other stimulants for the baby. In addition, lemon juice is good for digestion, heart and skin health as well as quench your thirst.

Coconut water: Coconut water helps maintain pH balance, reduce digestion, improve immunity and also help you increase energy.

Yogurt: Processing yogurt with a little ice blended and fresh fruit will be the ideal drink for pregnant women.

Some common questions about pregnant women drink coffee

1. Can you drink coffee in 3 months of pregnancy?

The answer is yes, pregnant women can drink coffee during their early pregnancy. However, you should calculate how much coffee you need to drink so that your caffeine intake doesn't exceed 200mg per day.

2. Can pregnant women drink coffee with milk?

You can absolutely drink coffee with milk. However, you should still pay attention to the amount of coffee per drink.

3. Can drinking coffee cause miscarriage?

Drinking too much coffee can increase your risk of miscarriage.

4. When should not drink coffee?

If you suffer from some conditions such as difficulty sleeping, indigestion or blood pressure related diseases, you should not drink coffee.

5. Does drinking coffee affect the pregnancy test results?

Drinking coffee will not affect the results of the pregnancy test. However, drinking a lot of coffee or caffeinated beverages will increase the frequency of urination, which in turn affects pregnancy test results due to diluted urine and lower levels of the hormone hCG.

6. Can pregnant women drink coffee in the last 3 months?

If you crave coffee too much, pregnant mothers can drink 1 small cup of diluted coffee with ice, fresh milk to neutralize caffeine. Pregnant mothers drink too much coffee will make the fetus slow to develop.

Hopefully the above sharing has helped pregnant mothers know how much coffee they can consume to avoid affecting both the mother and the baby.