Moderate daily caffeine intake during pregnancy may lead to ...

Previous studies have linked high caffeine consumption (more than 200 milligrams of caffeine per day) during pregnancy to infants being small ... Skiptomaincontent SiteMenu Home HealthInformation HealthCareProviders&Facilities HealthInfoLines HealthCare.gov ScienceEducationResources NIHClinicalResearchTrialsandYou TalkingtoYourDoctor More» SearchHealthTopics QuickLinks MedlinePlusHealthInfo NIHNewsinHealth WellnessToolkits Grants&Funding GrantsHomePage FindFunding DueDates HowtoApply AboutGrants Policy&Compliance GrantsNews/Blog Contracts LoanRepayment More» SearchtheNIHGuide QuickLinks RePORT eRACommons NIHCommonFund News&Events NewsReleases DigitalMediaKits MediaResources MediaContacts ImagesandB-roll Events SocialMedia More» QuickLinks NIHNewsinHealth NIHResearchMatters NIHRecord Research&Training MedicalResearchInitiatives ScienceHighlights ScienceEducation ResearchinNIHLabs&Clinics TrainingOpportunities LibraryResources ResearchResources ClinicalResearchResources Safety,RegulationandGuidance More» QuickLinks PubMed StemCellInformation OppNet NIDB NIHBlueprintforNeuroscienceResearch InstitutesatNIH ListofInstitutesandCenters NIHOfficeoftheDirector DirectorsofNIHInstitutesandCenters NIHInstituteandCenterContactInformation More» QuickLinks NCI NEI NHLBI NHGRI NIA NIAAA NIAID NIAMS NIBIB NICHD NIDCD NIDCR NIDDK NIDA NIEHS NIGMS NIMH NIMHD NINDS NINR NLM CC CIT CSR FIC NCATS NCCIH AboutNIH WhoWeAre WhatWeDo JobsatNIH VisitorInformation FrequentlyAskedQuestions ContactUs More» QuickLinks TheNIHDirector TheNIHAlmanac NIH…TurningDiscoveryIntoHealth® ImpactofNIHResearch Science,Health,andPublicTrust COVID-19 COVID.gov NIHResearchinformation|Español NIHstaffguidance(NIHOnly) YouarehereHome»News&Events»NewsReleases NewsReleases NewsReleaseThursday,March25,2021Moderatedailycaffeineintakeduringpregnancymayleadtosmallerbirthsize Pregnantwomenwhoconsumedthecaffeineequivalentofaslittleashalfacupofcoffeeadayonaveragehadslightlysmallerbabiesthanpregnantwomenwhodidnotconsumecaffeinatedbeverages,accordingtoastudybyresearchersattheNationalInstitutesofHealth.Theresearchersfoundcorrespondingreductionsinsizeandleanbodymassforinfantswhosemothersconsumedbelowthe200milligramsofcaffeineperday —abouttwocupsofcoffee—believedtoincreaseriskstothefetus.Smallerbirthsizecanplaceinfantsathigherriskofobesity,heartdiseaseanddiabeteslaterinlife. TheresearcherswereledbyKatherineL.Grantz,M.D.,M.S.,oftheDivisionofIntramuralPopulationHealthResearchatNIH’sEuniceKennedyShriverNationalInstituteofChildHealthandHumanDevelopment.ThestudyappearsinJAMANetworkOpen. “Untilwelearnmore,ourresultssuggestitmightbeprudenttolimitorforegocaffeine-containingbeveragesduringpregnancy,”Dr.Grantzsaid.“It’salsoagoodideaforwomentoconsulttheirphysiciansaboutcaffeineconsumptionduringpregnancy.” Previousstudieshavelinkedhighcaffeineconsumption(morethan200milligramsofcaffeineperday)duringpregnancytoinfantsbeingsmallfortheirgestationalage(stageofpregnancy)oratriskforintrauterinegrowthrestriction—beinginthelowest10thpercentileforinfantsofthesamegestationalage.However,studiesonmoderatedailycaffeineconsumption(200milligramsorless)duringpregnancyhaveproducedmixedresults.Somehavefoundsimilarelevatedrisks forlowbirthweightandotherpoorbirthoutcomes,whileothershavefoundnosuchlinks.Thecurrentstudyauthorsnotedthatmanyoftheearlierstudiesdidnotaccountforotherfactorsthatcouldinfluenceinfantbirthsize,suchasvariationincaffeinecontentofdifferentbeveragesandmaternalsmokingduringpregnancy. Fortheirstudy,theauthorsanalyzeddataonmorethan2,000raciallyandethnicallydiversewomenat12clinicalsiteswhowereenrolledfrom8to13weeksofpregnancy.Thewomenwerenon-smokersanddidnothaveanyhealthproblemsbeforepregnancy.Fromweeks10to13ofpregnancy,thewomenprovidedabloodsamplethatwaslateranalyzedforcaffeineandparaxanthine,acompoundproducedwhencaffeineisbrokendowninthebody.Thewomenalsoreportedtheirdailyconsumptionofcaffeinatedbeverages(coffee,tea,sodaandenergydrinks)forthepastweek—oncewhentheyenrolledandperiodicallythroughouttheirpregnancies. Comparedtoinfantsborntowomenwithnoorminimalbloodlevelsofcaffeine,infantsborntowomenwhohadthehighestbloodlevelsofcaffeineatenrollmentwereanaverageof84gramslighteratbirth(about3ounces),were.44centimetersshorter(about.17inches),andhadheadcircumferences.28centimeterssmaller(about.11inches). Basedonthewomen’sownestimatesofthebeveragestheydrank,womenwhoconsumedabout50milligramsofcaffeineaday(equivalenttoahalfcupofcoffee)hadinfants66grams(about2.3ounces)lighterthaninfantsborntonon-caffeineconsumers.Similarly,infantsborntothecaffeineconsumersalsohadthighcircumferences.32centimeterssmaller(about.13inches). Theresearchersnotedthatcaffeineisbelievedtocausebloodvesselsintheuterusandplacentatoconstrict,whichcouldreducethebloodsupplytothefetusandinhibitgrowth.Similarly,researchersbelievecaffeinecouldpotentiallydisruptfetalstresshormones,puttinginfantsatriskforrapidweightgainafterbirthandforlaterlifeobesity,heartdiseaseanddiabetes. Theauthorsconcludedthattheirfindingssuggestthatevenmoderatecaffeineconsumptionmaybeassociatedwithdecreasedgrowthofthefetus. AbouttheEuniceKennedyShriverNationalInstituteofChildHealthandHumanDevelopment(NICHD):NICHDleadsresearchandtrainingtounderstandhumandevelopment,improvereproductivehealth,enhancethelivesofchildrenandadolescents,andoptimizeabilitiesforall.Formoreinformation,visithttps://www.nichd.nih.gov.AbouttheNationalInstitutesofHealth(NIH): NIH,thenation'smedicalresearchagency,includes27InstitutesandCentersandisacomponentoftheU.S.DepartmentofHealthandHumanServices.NIHistheprimaryfederalagencyconductingandsupportingbasic,clinical,andtranslationalmedicalresearch,andisinvestigatingthecauses,treatments,andcuresforbothcommonandrarediseases.FormoreinformationaboutNIHanditsprograms,visitwww.nih.gov. NIH…TurningDiscoveryIntoHealth® ReferencesGleason,JLetal.MaternalcaffeineconsumptionandmetabolismandneonatalanthropometryintheNICHDFetalGrowthStudies. JAMANetworkOpen.2021. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.3238 ### Institute/CenterEuniceKennedyShriverNationalInstituteofChildHealthandHumanDevelopment(NICHD)Contact LindaHuynhorRobertBock 301-496-5133 ConnectwithUs Subscribetonewsreleases RSSFeed ConnectwithUs ContactUs Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube Flickr MoreSocialMediafromNIH BacktoTop