A young woman samples freshly brewed cappuccino at Bonanza Coffee Roasters on Jan. 24, 2011, in Berlin, Germany. (Photo : Getty Images)
Women are more likely to miscarry if they drink more than two cups of coffee per day in the early weeks of pregnancy, a new study shows. Researchers have also found out that multivitamin use can reduce the chances of miscarriage if taken before conception.
The researchers at Ohio State University and the National Institutes of Health said the study does not prove that caffeine consumption before pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, according to NIH. Even then, increased drinking of caffeinated beverages can increase the chances of directly contributing to the risk of miscarriage.
Dr. Germaine Buck Louis, the director of the Division of Intramural Population Health Research, has said that their findings also indicate that the male partners are also at risk. Men who drink caffeinated drinks before conceiving a child will contribute at their partners' risk of miscarriage.
The researchers' findings come from an intensive study of 344 couples in Texas and Michigan who have agreed to be watched as they try to conceive, according to Fertility and Sterility. The couples wrote down every caffeinated drink they had, every fish serving, every alcoholic drink, was weighed regularly, gave samples like blood and the women took pregnancy tests regularly.
Louis said that their findings will provide useful information for couples who are planning a pregnancy and who want to minimize the risks of pregnancy loss. Of all the 344 pregnancies, 28 percent of the couples had ended in miscarriage.
Women who were over 35 had twice the risk of early pregnancy loss compared to younger women. Drinking three or more caffeinated drinks a day raised the risk by 74 percent. The caffeinated beverages that were used for the study were coffee, tea, sodas, energy drinks and any drink with caffeine in it.
Dr. Zev Williams of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine has said that a little caffeine is okay. One or two cups of caffeine are not harmful to the couple, he added.
Williams also said that he has seen a lot of women who tried to stop drinking caffeinated drinks ended up taking medications, which are harmful. He suggested letting them take one to two cups of coffee a day to avoid the medications.
Watch the "Is it okay to drink caffeine during pregnancy?" video below:
