What advice should be given to pregnant mothers on caffeine consumption?

Abstract

Studies on the association between maternal caffeine consumption and adverse pregnancy outcomes have been conflicting, which may be due to different methodological flaws possibly hampering some of the studies. Women with a high consumption of caffeine also smoke more, drink more alcohol and have a different diet, so some findings may be due to confounding factors. Many women reduce their caffeine consumption in pregnancy owing to pregnancy symptoms such as nausea or aversion, especially against coffee. As pregnancy symptoms are a predictor of a viable fetus, some of the associations between caffeine consumption and adverse pregnancy outcome may be due to reverse causation. A review of the literature does not provide evidence for an association between moderate caffeine consumption (<300 mg/day) and adverse pregnancy outcomes, except possibly for genetically susceptible women. It is still unknown whether a higher intake may be harmful, and advising pregnant women to reduce their caffeine intake to less tha...