February 2003
From BMJ-British Medical Journal
Too much coffee during pregnancy risks stillbirth Maternal consumption of coffee during pregnancy and stillbirth and infant death in first year of life: prospective study BMJ Volume 326, pp 420-2 Pregnant women who drink eight or more cups of coffee a day run more than twice the risk of stillbirth compared with women who do not drink coffee, finds a study in this week�s BMJ.Researchers in Denmark identified 18,478 pregnant women booking for delivery at Aarhus University Hospital during 1989-96. The women completed two questionnaires, providing information such as medical history, smoking habits, alcohol and coffee consumption. The risk of stillbirth increased with the number of cups of coffee a day during pregnancy. Compared with women who did not drink any coffee, women who drank four to seven cups a day had an 80% increased risk of stillbirth, and women who drank eight or more cups a day a 300% increased risk. There was no association between coffee consumption and death in the first year of life. Women with a high intake of coffee are more likely to be smokers and to have a high intake of alcohol, say the authors. Adjusting for these factors reduced the risk slightly, but the link remained significant. | |