Three cups of coffee a day is my normal coffee intake. It could be more depending on the situation, but it can never be less than 3 cups, otherwise I cannot function "normally". In addition, I like my coffee strong with 1-2 teaspoons of sugar, no milk or creamer.

So you can just imagine the "sacrifice" I made for nine months of pregnancy and 5 months of breast feeding, and that's just my coffee intake, not to mention the other "sacrifices" as well that a pregnant woman is subjected to. So I didn't drink coffee for that duration for fear of the bad effects of caffeine to my baby's health. Too much caffeine has previously been linked to low-birth weight and premature birth.

I'm sure lots of women (who've been pregnant or are pregnant) who like me is a coffee lover has gone through the same dilemma and apprehension on drinking coffee (and caffeine intake) while pregnant.

One reason why caffeine intake during pregnancy has been under scrutiny in two studies: one studying the impact of a mother's intake during pregnancy and another one looking at whether caffeine can improve the symptoms of apnea in prematurity (adding to existing evidence).

At the University of Leeds in UK, a study is narrowing in on an exact measure by which caffeine intake becomes harmful during pregnancy based on the expectant mother's caffeine metabolism.

It is however difficult to measure a person's caffeine intake due to the fact that caffeine levels vary from one cup of coffee (or tea) to another as well as caffeine being present in many products including chocolate and over-the-counter flu medicines.

Currently, too much caffeine intake (over five cups of ordinary strength coffee) is found to increase the risk of having a low birth-weight baby.

Considering the above facts, the Leeds study is working in the assumption that caffeine metabolism varies from each person and is looking at the correlation between caffeine intake and caffeine metabolism at pregnancy and the risk of having a low birth-weight baby.

While the negative effects of excessive caffeine intake during pregnancy is known, caffeine on the other hand has been used for the past 25 years to help ease apnea of prematurity. Apnea is a condition in which premature infants stop breathing for 15 to 20 seconds during their sleep.

As published in The New England Journal of Medicine, a study conducted at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario showed that intravenous caffeine reduced the rate of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a chronic lung disease of babies, by 37% in a group of infants with very low birth weight.

The rate of development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (a disease that can manifest itself after very premature birth or use of a breathing machine) in infants was greatly reduced by caffeine delivered intravenously.

The McMaster study found no short-term risks in caffeine, except for a temporary reduction in weight gain. The researchers however warned that there is "insufficient" information to conclude potential long-term effects of caffeine therapy on premature babies and that they are continuing studies on these effects.

Source: NutraIngredients