Good news for mums-to-be. New nutrition guidelines state that pregnant woman can drink up to three cups of instant coffee, four cups of tea or four cans of cola each day. But if your daily caffeine fix is an espresso, cappuccino or latte, one a day is the recommended limit.
The recommendations from Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) also state that women should not drink energy drinks due to their high caffeine content.
This is the first time the FSANZ have set a recommended daily dose of caffeine for expecting mums.
"Having large amounts of caffeine does not appear to cause birth defects, [but] drinking high amounts of caffeine may make it more difficult to become pregnant and may increase the risk of miscarriage or having a baby with low birth weight," the guidelines say.
Other recommendations
For a healthy pregnancy, the FSANZ also recommends expecting mums:
- Eat a healthy, balanced diet.
- Take a folic acid supplement of at least 400 micrograms every day one month before and three months after conception.
- Eat two to three serves of fish a week but avoid those fish with high levels of mercury such as shark, broadbill, marlin, swordfish and orange roughy.
- Don't drink alcohol during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.
Source: FSNAZ's Thinking about having a baby? Important things you need to know about what you can eat and drink (PDF)
Home