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By: Kenneth Whitson on Mon Mar 24, 2008

A recent study on the effects of caffeine consumption in pregnant women has found that an increased dose of daily caffeine intake in pregnant mothers is often associated with an increased risk of miscarriage, as compared to no caffeine intake, and that the “magnitude of the associated appeared to be stronger among women without a history of miscarriage than that among women with such a history.”

The study, authored by Dr. De-Kun Li, and published in The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was conducted on 1063 pregnant women in San Francisco from 1996 to 1998, 172 of which miscarried.

Dr. De-Kun Li’s research found that as caffeine easily crosses the placental barrier, and is metabolized slowly by the fetus, there is a direct correlation between caffeine consumption of 200mg or more per day and miscarriage. Previous studies on the links between caffeine consumption and miscarriage proved inconclusive due to a number of factors, such as relying on data culled from participants recollection (and so suffering from recall bias), a small sample size, and failing to take into account other factors which might contribute to miscarriage, such as cigarette and alcohol consumption.

In light of the findings of the study, Dr. De-Kun Li concluded that “it may be prudent to stop or reduce caffeine intake during pregnancy.”