University of Queensland researchers have found enjoying a daily latte or long black causes no increased risk to pregnancy.<\/p>\n
Dr Gunn-Helen Moen<\/a>, Dr Daniel Hwang<\/a> and Caroline Brito Nunes<\/a> from UQ\u2019s Institute for Molecular Bioscience<\/a> used genetics to analyse coffee drinking behaviour, and their findings show limited coffee consumption during pregnancy didn\u2019t increase the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth.<\/p>\n \u201cCurrent World Health Organization guidelines say pregnant women should drink less than 300mg of caffeine, or two to three cups per day,\u201d Dr Moen said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s based on observational studies where it\u2019s difficult to separate coffee drinking from other risk factors like smoking, alcohol or poor diet. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to find out if coffee alone really does increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, and the research shows this isn\u2019t the case.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Hwang said coffee drinking behaviour is partly due to genetics, with a specific set of genetic variants affecting how much coffee we drink.<\/p>\n \u201cWe showed that these genetic variants not only affect coffee consumption in the general population but also in pregnant women,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The researchers used a method called Mendelian Randomisation which used eight genetic variants that predicted pregnant women\u2019s coffee drinking behaviour and examined whether these variants were also associated with birth outcomes.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause we can\u2019t ask women to drink prescribed amounts of coffee during their pregnancy, we used genetic analyses to mimic a randomised control trial,\u201d Dr Hwang said.<\/p>\n The genetic analysis found there was no greater risk of miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth for women who drank coffee.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to diet during pregnancy women are often advised to cut things out, but this study shows they can still enjoy coffee without worrying about increasing the risk of these pregnancy outcomes,\u201d Dr Hwang said.<\/p>\n The researchers emphasise the study only looked at certain adverse pregnancy outcomes, and it is possible caffeine consumption could affect other important aspects of foetal development.<\/p>\n \u201cFor that reason, we don\u2019t recommend a high intake during pregnancy, but a low or moderate consumption of coffee,\u201d Dr Moen said.<\/p>\n This research used genetic data from the Coffee and Caffeine Genetics Consortium, the UK BioBank, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and 23andMe.<\/p>\n