Caffeine and Miscarriages

In this world we live in it is very easy to be addicted to caffeine. But for women who become pregnant giving up the daily Starbucks treat or diet coke may be a bit difficult. However, with the research being done, it may be wise for women to for go their daily caffeine fix, while pregnant.

A recent study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology found that increasing the dosage of your daily intake of caffeine while pregnant increased the risk of miscarriage. This study was conducted among San Francisco and South San Francisco pregnant members of a Medical Care facility. The study was performed from October 1996 through October 1998.

The study concluded that 172 women miscarried (16%), 264 women (25%) reported no caffeine consumption, 635 women (60%) reported consuming at least 200mg of caffeine daily and 164 women (15%) reported consuming over 200mg or more of caffeine on a daily basis.

The researchers concluded that high consumptions of caffeine while pregnant will increase the risk of miscarriage. Although it may be difficult to stop consuming caffeine while pregnant it is wise to do so. You can reduce your risk of miscarriage and maintain your health at the same time. It is prudent to stop or reduce your intake during pregnancy.

Until next time,

Dr. Mommy

Chocolate may help with pregnancy!!

Wow, that is like music to a woman’s ears!! Chocolate can actually help with pregnancy!!!

New research performed at Yale University suggests that including dark chocolate in your diet may prevent pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia.

There is a chemical in dark chocolate called ‘theobromine’, which stimulates the heart, relaxes smooth muscles and dilates blood vessels and has been used for those suffering from chest pain, high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries.

During pregnancy, blood pressure spikes causing preeclampsia, also causing protein to spill into the urine. Many of the characteristics are common to heart disease, research has shown.

A study was performed with over 2,000 women who had delivered a single infant and were asked how much dark chocolate they had consumed in their first and third trimesters. The blood levels were tested for theobromine in the infant’s umbilical cord blood.

Women who consumed large levels of dark chocolate during their pregnancy showed elevated levels of theobromine in their infant’s blood and were at lower risk of developing preeclampsia.

These results raised the possibility that dark chocolate consumption during pregnancy may reduce the development of preeclampsia.

This is another good reason to add dark chocolate to our daily diets!!

Until next time,

~Dr. Mommy