Couples Must Limit Caffeine Intake to Prevent Miscarriage

Couples planning for conception must reduce their caffeine intake at two drinks per day as it increases the risk of pregnancy loss.

Caffeinated drinks are associated with pregnancy loss as a new study has showed that women must limit their caffeine intake during pregnancy and also take vitamin tablets to prevent miscarriage.

Women who drink more than two caffeinated beverages per day during the first seven weeks of pregnancy were also more likely to have a miscarriage, according to the study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

Pregnant Women Who Consume Caffeine-based Beverages Every Day may Have Obese Kids
Kids born to mothers who drank more than 150 milligrams of caffeine daily, equivalent to a medium-sized cuppa, were 2.3 times more likely to become obese.

‘Women must limit their caffeine intake and regularly take multivitamin tablets to reduce their chances of miscarriage.’

But rates of miscarriage are reduced for women who take a daily multivitamin before and after conception.

The study, carried out by researchers from the National Institutes of Health and Ohio State University, was based on data from the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment (LIFE) Study.

That study followed 501 couples in Michigan and Texas from 2005 to 2009, examining the relationship between fertility, lifestyle and exposure to chemicals in the environment.

Long Term Exposure to Soap and Shampoo May Increase Miscarriage Risk
Certain phthalates - substances commonly used in everyday products - could be associated with miscarriage, mostly between five and 13 weeks of pregnancy.

The current study compared cigarette use, caffeinated beverage consumption and multivitamin use among 344 couples when the woman was carrying a single offspring. Of these pregnancies, 98 or 28 percent ended in miscarriage.

The researchers' conclusions were based on a statistical concept called hazard ratio, which estimates the chances of a particular outcome occurring during the study period.

Consumption Of Caffeine and Energy Drinks on a High in India: FSSAI
Food safety experts in India conduct a survey on the consumption pattern of caffeinated beverages and energy drinks across the country.

A ratio greater than one indicates increased risk for miscarriage each day following conception, while a ratio less than one indicates reduced daily risk.

The risk of miscarriage was 1.74 when the woman consumed more than two caffeinated drinks a day, the study showed. However, the risk was almost as high - 1.73 - if the male partner drank that much caffeine or more.

Caffeine Consumption is High Among Teenagers
Adolescents are the fastest growing population of caffeine users, with 83% consuming caffeinated beverages regularly and at least 96% drinking them occasionally.

"Our findings also indicate that the male partner matters, too," said lead author Germaine Buck Louis, director of the Division of Intramural Population Health Research at the NIH. "Male preconception consumption of caffeinated beverages was just as strongly associated with pregnancy loss as females'."

The study also found that taking a daily multivitamin significantly reduced chances of miscarriage. Taking a vitamin in the weeks leading up to conception had a hazard ratio of 0.45, a 55 percent reduction in risk for pregnancy loss.

Women who continued to take multivitamins through the early stages of pregnancy had a hazard ratio of 0.21, a risk reduction of 79 percent.

Source-AFP