Although, for many years, coffee was believed to be harmful to unborn babies, in fact it now appears to present no danger.
According to a Danish study, it does not have a negative effect on birth weight and does not increase the number of premature births.
A university research team monitored 1,207 pregnant women who all regularly drank coffee. On average they drank three cups a day.
Over the course of the last 20 weeks of pregnancy, half of them continued drinking coffee while the other half were offered a decaffeinated product instead.
The author of the report found no significant difference between the two groups. In the first group, 4.2% of the babies were born prematurely and 4.5% had low birth weight, compared with 5.2% and 4.7% respectively in the other group.
So … while smoking and drinking alcohol during pregnancy are to be avoided, women can still enjoy a small cup of coffee from time to time. Always in moderation of course!
