The newest caffeine panic

January 21, 2008

If you are pregnant, or know of someone who is pregnant, or know someone who might become pregnant, you should go read Bean’s post on caffeine intake and pregnancy at Lawyers, Guns and Money. No, not to warn you off of coffee. But because Bean has yet another example of how pregnant women are expected to fly into a food panic at the slightest hint that something might possibly cause a miscarriage at some point.

A new study released this weekend shows that there may be a correlation between caffeine intake and miscarriage. And the NY Times springs into action, immediately posting an article that leads with the breathlessness that makes pregnant women–and other people–nuts. In the article, the study’s lead author follows up her results with recommendations that pregnant women give up caffeine completely for 3-4 months because, as she puts it, “stopping caffeine doesn’t really have any downside.”

We heard this better-safe-than-sorry claptrap about almost everything when Elf was pregnant. She was warned against drinking coffee, eating dairy, not eating dairy, exercising, not exercising — even raising her arms above her head. It’s foolishness. At some point they’re going to figure out that stress caused by food panic increases the risk of miscarriage. But I bet they don’t stop insisting women should DROP EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW for fear that SOMETHING MIGHT HURT THE BABY.

Posted in Daddyblog