A hotly debated topic for moms-to-be is whether drinking coffee is safe for you and baby. To get to the bottom of this, I checked with Hansa Bhargava, MD, senior medical officer at WebMD [1]. According to her, drinking coffee is totally OK, as long as it's in moderation.
"Consuming caffeine in small doses during pregnancy is considered safe. Although there has been research showing that if you drink more than two cups, you could be at risk for miscarriage, most experts agree that less than 200 mg of caffeine a day is fine. That's about one cup of coffee," she said.
While admittedly there isn't a lot of research on this particular topic, sources, like this BabyCenter article from dietitian Keli Hawthorne, advise that it's wise to err on the side of caution [3] and cut back on your caffeine if you usually consume a lot of it. Your daily one cup, generally about 10 ounces, should be enough to perk you up in the morning without causing any dangerous side effects for your baby. It's also important to note, though, that you should make sure to know how many milligrams of caffeine are in your cup [4]. Not all 10-ounce cups are created equal, but the 200 mg limit is the number to remember.
So there you have it, mamas! You can sip your coffee without worry.