Experts relate to caffeine with low birth weight baby

February 19, 2013
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According to a study by a team of researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and published in the journal BioMed Central, Caffeine is related to babies with low birth weight and that ingested through coffee is linked to increased duration of pregnancy.

Along with nutrients and oxygen, caffeine crosses the placenta but the developing embryo does not express the enzymes required to inactivate efficiently.

The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests a limit of 300 mg per day in pregnancy but some countries recommend a limit of 200 mg, less than a cup of some coffee.

The researchers explained, “We used the information on the diet of the mother and birth details collected over ten years. After excluding women with medical conditions related to pregnancy, nearly 60,000 pregnancies were included in the study and were monitored all sources of caffeine include coffee, tea, soft drinks and cocoa-containing foods, including cakes, desserts and chocolate “.

Verena Sengpiel, Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden, who led the project, said: “Caffeine consumption is closely related to smoking, which is known to increase the risk of preterm birth and small for age baby gestational at birth (SGA). In this study there was no association between either total caffeine or coffee and preterm birth, but an association between caffeine and low birth weight.”