Caffeine during pregnancy & breastfeeding - what to consider?

Introduction

Many of our customers ask us if they can drink caffeine while pregnant and how caffeine affects breast milk and breastfeeding. We would therefore like to take a closer look at the topic in this article and create a comprehensive overview based on as many study results as possible.

You will always find links to studies and other articles in our blog in the text. In this way, you can deal intensively with the topic and ultimately make a decision for you together with your doctor.

We expressly distance ourselves from the correctness of the written things and point out that in this article we summarize and reproduce what can be found in scientific reading on this topic. We would like to encourage every mother to delve deeper into the topic and to use our contribution and the further links as a point of reference, by no means as the only point of decision.

Contents

1. Caffeine during pregnancy?
   1. How does caffeine affect babies in the womb
   2. What to pay attention to?
2. Caffeine and breastfeeding?
   
   1. caffeine in breast milk
   2. What to pay attention to?
3. Differences: coffee, mate, tea, guarana, guayusa
4. Conclusion

1. Caffeine during pregnancy?

Probably one of the biggest limitations for pregnant women is the change in diet and especially the handling of certain everyday active ingredients such as caffeine.

You've probably heard that consuming caffeine during pregnancy can result in a smaller size and weight in the newborn. We have actually been able to find data on this. However, these are not nearly as serious as the topic sounds without data analysis. It should also be noted that many of the studies did not include other factors such as alcohol consumption or cigarette consumption.

The deviations in height and weight of newborns whose mothers consumed caffeine during pregnancy were extremely small with a maximum of 84g less weight, 0.44 cm less height and 0.32 cm smaller head circumference.

In general, science seems to agree that consuming no more than 300 mg of caffeine per day during pregnancy has no negative effects on fetal development. Also, no clear studies on miscarriages due to caffeine can be found.

1.1. How does caffeine affect babies in the womb

Here, too, there is no unambiguous study situation. It is also believed that caffeine below a daily level of 200 mg to 300 mg caffeine does not cause any problems during pregnancy.

However, it is absolutely clear that caffeine in high amounts is absolutely harmful to the unborn and newborn! Some of the caffeine ingested crosses the placenta into the fetus and can cause harm. In a study by the University of Rochester Medical Center, 9,000 nine- and ten-year-old children were examined.

The result was that children whose mothers consumed caffeine during pregnancy had behavioral problems, poor concentration and hyperactivity. However, the scientists emphasized that this study is based on the mothers' memories of whether and how much caffeine they consumed. They also emphasized that they could not find any correlations between the different trimesters.

1.2. What to pay attention to?

Science is unequivocally saying that more than 300 mg of caffeine per day is not recommended during pregnancy. There is no clear evidence that small amounts of caffeine are harmful to babies' development.

It should therefore be noted that the amount of caffeine during pregnancy is limited to a maximum of 300 mg per day. In addition, you should talk to your doctor and midwife, and trust your personal feelings – giving up caffeine for a few months will probably not bring any disadvantage.

2. Caffeine and breastfeeding?

Caffeine and breastfeeding behaves similarly to the effects of caffeine during pregnancy. Now that the baby's brain is more developed, damage is less likely. Nevertheless, it is also recommended here to significantly reduce the amount of caffeine while breastfeeding and to consume a maximum of 200 mg to 300 mg per day.

2.1. caffeine in breast milk

As with pregnancy, caffeine passes into breast milk when breastfeeding or breastfeeding. This process takes about 1 to 2 hours.

Babies can be more active and restless if they get too much caffeine in their breast milk. Babies also take longer to break down caffeine. However, these negative effects in babies were also only recorded in babies whose mothers drank 10 or more cups of coffee daily. The same study concluded that 300 mg to 500 mg of caffeine daily would not cause problems for the baby, but as a precaution, especially with a newborn, the mother should consider significantly reducing consumption.

2.3. What to pay attention to

Caffeine consumption should also be severely limited while breastfeeding. However, a general renunciation is just as little recommended as in the case of pregnancy. However, a waiver would probably not have any disadvantages either.

If you are interested in the general benefits and disadvantages of caffeine, you can find them in the linked articles.

3. Differences: coffee, mate, tea, guarana, guayusa

The question of whether it makes a difference which caffeine drink you drink during pregnancy and breastfeeding is understandable.

You can find a caffeine comparison of many drinks in our blog post on caffeine comparison and in much more detail in our free e-book .

In addition to the different caffeine content, each plant also has a slightly different composition of other active ingredients. The caffeine in coffee B. is overly exposed, more precisely it is bound to bitter substances. The caffeine in guarana, mate and tea, on the other hand, is also bound to other substances such as theobromine , theophylline and antioxidants . Guayusa also has L-theanine and significantly more antioxidants than the other stimulants.

Therefore, as always, a cup of guayusa can be more efficient than a cup of coffee to keep you awake. The caffeine is absorbed more slowly by the body and, together with the other active ingredients, ensures a longer-lasting effect.

4. Conclusion

As mentioned at the beginning, we are not allowed to make any medical recommendations. However, based on scientific data, there does not appear to be any negative effects on pregnancy or the baby when caffeine is consumed in moderation.

The same goes for caffeine and breastfeeding. There is no evidence that caffeine in moderation is harmful to babies who are breastfeeding. However, all of the studies we found expressly point out that a maximum of 300 mg of caffeine per day should be drunk.

Check out our main article on the effects of caffeine for more information, we also have an in-depth post on the benefits and harms of caffeine, as well as the differences between natural and pure caffeine powder .

We hope that this overview will give you a starting point for orientation.