A report on MSNBC this morning alerted women to the potential dangers of caffeine - the report, of course, started out with the large header

2-cup coffee habit may double miscarriage risk

But then conceded in the subheader that doctors are still divided on the hazards of moderate caffeine consumption in pregnancy.

In the study, published in Monday’s issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Li’s team interviewed 1,063 women in the San Francisco area who became pregnant between 1996 and 1998 about their caffeine intake. While 164 of the women drank 200 mg of caffeine or more daily, 635 consumed some caffeine but less than 200 mg. The remaining 264 women said they didn’t consume any caffeine.

Overall, 172 of the women suffered a miscarriage. The risk of a miscarriage was more than double in women who consumed 200 mg or more of caffeine, with 25 percent suffering a miscarriage compared to just 12 percent of women who didn’t consume caffeine. The low-caffeine drinkers also appeared to have an elevated risk of miscarriage, but this trend wasn’t statistically significant, meaning the researchers could not rule out that it was merely due to chance.

The American Pregnancy Association often recommends reducing or eliminating caffeine from your diet for these simple reasons:

Caffeine is a stimulant and a diuretic. Because caffeine is a stimulant, it increases your blood pressure and heart rate, both of which are not recommended during pregnancy. Caffeine also increases the frequency of urination. This causes reduction in your body fluid levels and can lead to dehydration.

Caffeine crosses the placenta to your baby. Although you may be able to handle the amounts of caffeine you feed your body, your baby cannot. Your baby’s metabolism is still maturing and cannot fully metabolize the caffeine. Any amount of caffeine can also cause changes in your baby’s sleep pattern or normal movement pattern in the later stages of pregnancy. Remember, caffeine is a stimulant and can keep both you and your baby awake.

Our doctors had suggested that both hubby and I minimize our caffeine intake since we were trying to conceive, so we dutifully switched over to decaf and I increased my intake of herbal teas (decaf and non-caffeinated, of course.) But then some articles in one of those BabyBabyBaby magazines that I made the mistake of picking up and browsing at the doctor’s office made me a little wary about ingesting even my beloved teas.

Turns out, there are definitely some herbal potions you should avoid if you think you are or are trying to get pregnant. Rosemary, sage, black cohosh, anise, catnip, chamomile, comfrey, ephedra, European mistletoe, hibiscus, horehound, Labrador, lemongrass, licorice root, mugwort, pennyroyal, raspberry leaf, sassafras, stinging nettle leaf, vetiver, and yarrow are often listed as villians.

Other teas, such as peppermint, citrus, and ginger appear to be ok.
All of this would be fine if I liked water. But I don’t.

So, what’s a girl to do (drink?)*

*If you email me back and say a Manhattan or a scotch and soda, I may cry. I am craving both this morning.

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