Can pregnant people drink coffee? What's the impact?

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Caffeine belongs to methylxanthine alkaloids, which has the excitatory effect of central nervous system and positive effect of cardiovascular system. As early as 1980, FDA made it clear that caffeine should be used carefully during pregnancy. Animal experiments have shown that increased caffeine intake during pregnancy may have a variety of adverse reactions to reproduction and fetal development, and caffeine is also a natural adenosine receptor antagonist.

We all know that the nutrition of the pregnant mother is closely related to the baby, and everything the pregnant mother eats and drinks is related to the baby. Therefore, if the pregnant mother drinks coffee, it will not only have some adverse effects on the pregnant mother's own body, but also affect the healthy development of the baby.

Studies have shown that if mothers-to-be consume more than 500 milligrams of caffeine a day, their baby's heart rate and breathing rate will be faster and their baby will stay awake longer in the first few days of life. In addition, caffeine is at risk of causing toe deformities, cleft palate and other deformities in babies. Pregnant women who ate three cups of coffee a day in the first three months of pregnancy were 1.39 times more likely to have a congenital cleft lip than those who did not drink coffee, while those who consumed more than three cups of coffee a day had a 1.59-fold increase in fetal morbidity.

In addition, caffeine has the potential to damage the DNA of fetuses in the womb, making them vulnerable to leukemia, the most common cancer in children. The effect of caffeine in coffee on the fetus is not absolute and will not occur until the dose is high.

In fact, if the pregnant mother can't help it, it's OK to drink a little once in a while, just pay attention to the amount, just take a sip or two, but remember not to drink too often! For non-pregnant women, the general recommendation is to consume no more than 200 milligrams of caffeine a day, that is, no more than 3 cups of coffee a day (instant coffee in small packages). The caffeine content of different kinds of coffee varies greatly. A regular medium cup (250-280 ml) in a coffee shop contains 150 to 200 milligrams of caffeine.