Pregnancy

How Much Caffeine Is Safe During Pregnancy?

There's some conflicting advice about how much caffeine (if any) is safe during pregnancy.

Written by Marisa Taylor Karas | Reviewed by Mera Goodman, MD, FAAP

Updated on November 29, 2024

Reviewed by Mera Goodman, MD, FAAP | November 29, 2024

Learn more about the general guidelines for safe caffeine consumption during pregnancy, and which sneaky sources of caffeine you should also be monitoring (not just coffee), here.

References

Ahluwalia, N., et al. (2015). Caffeine intake from food and beverage sources and trends among children and adolescents in the United States: Review of national quantitative studies from 1999 to 2011. Advances in Nutrition.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2020). Moderate caffeine consumption during pregnancy.

American Pregnancy Association. (n.d.). Caffeine while pregnant.

Brent, R. L., et al. (2011). Evaluation of the reproductive and developmental risks of caffeine. Birth Defects Research.

Browne, M. L., et al. (2011). Maternal caffeine intake and risk of selected birth defects in the national birth defects prevention study. Birth Defects Research.

Center for Science in the Public Interest. (2021). Caffeine chart.

Christensen, Z. P., et al. (2021). Caffeine exposure in utero is associated with structural brain alteration and deleterious neurocognitive outcomes in 9-10 year old children. Neuropharmacology.

Dunkin’. (n.d.). Iced coffee.

Evans, J., et al. (2022). Caffeine. StatPearls.

Hinkle, S. N., et al. (2021). Assessment of caffeine consumption and maternal cardiometabolic pregnancy complications. JAMA Network Open.

James, J. E. (2021). Maternal caffeine consumption and pregnancy outcomes: A narrative review with implications for advice for mothers and mothers to be. The BMJ.

National Coffee Association. (n.d.). All about decaffeinated coffee.

Nehlig, A. (2016). Effects of coffee/caffeine on brain health and disease: What should I tell my patients?. Practical Neurology.

Rhee, J., et al. (2015). Maternal caffeine consumption during pregnancy and risk of low birth weight: A dose-response meta-analysis of observational studies. PLoS One.

Sajadi-Ernazarova, K. R., et al. (2022). Caffeine withdrawal. StatPearls.

Savitz, D. A., et al. (2008). Caffeine and miscarraige risk. Epidemiology.

Starbucks. (n.d.). Veranda blend.

Yu, T., et al. (2016). Pregnancy-induced changes in the pharmacokinetics of caffeine and its metabolites. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

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Written by:

Marisa Taylor Karas

Marisa Taylor Karas is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn who has covered health, gender, and technology for 15 years. She previously worked at The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and Al Jazeera America, among other publications, and also served as managing editor of the Mellon Foundation in New York City.