Coffee could double miscarriage risk

Pregnant women who drink two or more cups of coffee a day are twice as likely to have a miscarriage than those who avoid caffeine, according to a new study.

Scientists in the US believe they have finally put come up with strong evidence linking the threat of miscarriage with high doses of caffeine.

Their research is included in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Leading the study was Dr De-Kun Li, of Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, who said: “Women who are pregnant or are actively seeking to become pregnant should stop drinking coffee for three months or hopefully throughout pregnancy.”

Altogether, there have been 15 to 18 studies that have found a link between caffeine use and miscarriage.

What has always skewed results, is that many women avoid caffeine during the early stages of pregnancy as it makes them feel sick.

So what makes this study different? Well, all of the 1,063 pregnant women who were used in the research were part of the Kaiser Permanente health plan from 1996 to 1998 and never changed their caffeine consumption during pregnancy.

Li hoped the research would finally put to bed some of the uncertainty, adding: “There has been a lot of uncertainty about this.

“There was no firm advice from professional societies to say that what a pregnant woman should so about caffeine intake.”

Source: Timesonline

Pic: Andrea Fantoni and MorgueFile