Less caffeine for pregnant women, says study

Filed by Shaun Weston

Pregant woman with coffee

Britain’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) is recommending that pregnant women reduce their maximum daily caffeine intake from 300mg to 200mg.

The move to change the recommendation comes in light of a new study by the British Medical Journal that relates high caffeine consumption with low birth weights.

The study explains that women who take between 100 and 199mg of caffeine a day face a 20% greater risk of having a baby with a relatively low birth weight compared to those whose intake is less than 100mg a day.

An average cup of coffee contains about 100mg of caffeine, and caffeine is also present in tea, cola, chocolate and some drugs.

“This new advice doesn’t mean that pregnant women have to cut out caffeine completely,” said Andrew Wadge, FSA’s chief scientist. “[It’s] simply that they should be careful and make sure they don’t have too much. We would emphasise that the risks are likely to be very small.”