Did anyone else read about the link between coffee and lower birth weights?

[TravelingChris]

I read an article about that this morning. It said that drinking more than two cups a day decreases the baby's weight and increases the length of labor. I had both. But-- I think it was great that my kids were all 6 pounders=-- I didn't want any bigger. I will have to tell my dd's that they may want to drink coffee to make sure they have smaller babies.

[regentrude]

My first thought would be: did they distinguish between causality and correlation? Have they corrected for all lifestyle factors that coincide with increased coffee consumption to pinpoint coffee as the cause - or is it a mere correlation and the coffee is just one symptom of a complex web of factors?

As with most medical studies, I suspect the latter. In which case the data would be irrelevant to any individual.

[Joker]

My mil loves her coffee and has said she kept drinking several cups a day when pg with dh. She did have a long labor, but he weighed 12 lbs. :svengo:

[In The Great White North]

decreases the baby's weight and increases the length of labor.

 

This makes no sense. All other things being equal (ie. mother's anatomy and physical condition, birth order, etc), smaller babies have shorter labors

 

I'm with Regentrude on this one - they didn't eliminate the other variables.

[mommymilkies]

I certainly wouldn't drink coffee to have a lower birth rate. That is dangerous territory. Heavier doesn't mean easier, btw. My son was 7lbs. 2 oz. and more difficult than my posterior 8 lb. 4 oz. child.

 

The coffee correlation would certainly work in the case of me when I was born. I was 6 lbs and a loooooong and arduous labor. But my mom was also a smoker. ;)

[freesia]

My non-coffee pregnancies: weights: 7lb 11 oz., 8lb 9 oz. labors: 23 hours, 11 hours

 

coffee pregnancies: weights: 9lb 14 oz, 8lb 5 oz labors: both 3 hours and 15 minutes.(And my calmest children. . .)

 

So, I may be the exception. . . .

[TravelingChris]

I am well aware that the study wasn't necessarily a good one. I did PhD work in social sciences and had to pass competency exams in research methodology and statistics but I posted this because I thought it was funny. I didn't drink coffee to have small babies. I always thought my small babies were due to my chronic illnesses, particularly asthma- which wasn't diagnosed until after my second pregnancy but I probably had it during the first one too. ANyway, they were presenting as a reason not to drink coffee. I think the actual correlation may be that coffee drinking decreases the risk of diabetes and diabetics have larger babies. There is a huge difference between having a smaller weight baby and having a abnormally small baby. Six pounders are small but not too small.

 

I drink coffee because I like it but it also was controlling my adhd well without medications- no longer but that is a different story. And I do think coffee is better than adhd medications for a baby. Furthermore. I think decaffeinated isn't any good for anything= I would be concerned about the chemical processes that undergoes much more than the caffeine.

[TranquilMind]

I read an article about that this morning. It said that drinking more than two cups a day decreases the baby's weight and increases the length of labor. I had both. But-- I think it was great that my kids were all 6 pounders=-- I didn't want any bigger. I will have to tell my dd's that they may want to drink coffee to make sure they have smaller babies.

 

No coffee during pregnancy here. I'd never want a smaller baby that what the baby should be (if there is really any difference - all we can do is go on the best knowledge we have at the time).

 

My midwife told me that larger babies are much more easily delivered than small babies. That big head numbs everything out.

 

It worked for me. Last one was 10.5 pounds, and delivered in 9 minutes at home without drugs. (No diabetes either).

[Dory]

Both my boys were 7lb1oz and 7lb 12oz. I didn't start drinking coffee until after my oldest was born so my youngest boy, which was the coffee baby was a bigger baby and it was a 5hr labor from start to finish.

[Carrie12345]

I'm a coffee addict. In size order, my babies were 7lb9oz, 7lb15oz, 8lb5oz, 8lb10oz, and 9lb2oz.

[happypamama]

I don't drink a lot of caffeine, especially when pregnant, and although I finally discovered the joy of coffee a few months ago, I've been limiting it during this pregnancy, because I've also read that it can cause issues with the newborn because of withdrawal.

 

My fourth baby's labor was only half as long as any of my others (4 hours vs. 7, 8, and 11.5). He was the same length (21") as the rest of them, but he was only 8 pounds (my others were 8.11, 9.10, and 9.5). In his case, smaller did make for faster, but his head was the same size; he just had nearly two pounds less chub on his body than my second baby. (And I didn't have IVs for any of them.) However, #4 also came at 38w3d, and #2 came at 41w1d (and the other two at 40w6d and 40w5d); had #4 waited an additional 16-19 days, I think he'd have been over 9 pounds as well. I do think my body did a lot of loosening up with #4 in the last trimester -- I was achier all over, and I kept joking that the labor was going to be fast. It sure was, and he practically fell out. I'm kind of hoping that happens again this time.

[Arcadia]

My extended family are all coffee addicts. Babies were all 8 pounds and heavier. My aunts all had babies that was heavier with each birth.

[Crimson Wife]

I avoided caffeine entirely with my first, but had small amounts with #2 and #3 after the first tri. My oldest was the largest, at 6#10 at 41wks, but the others were not THAT much smaller. #2 was 5#12 at 39wks and #3 was 6#4 at 41wks. All 3 labors were short- 3 hrs, 6 hrs, and 4 hrs.

[Jerico]

No coffee and rarely soda with my first two: 8-7 lbs and a 28 hour labor. 9-6 lbs and 17 hour labor. Drank coffee during my 2nd trimester with my third (it was just nasty during the 1st and 3rd), he was 8-7 and a 10 hour labor (the only one with an epi). So no big change but I didn't drink a ton.

[Zebra]

I never touched coffee (and ate perfectly and had no risk factors) and had an under 3 lb baby. I think you have to drink like 10 cups a day before it's even a factor, and even then I am living proof that some pregnancies just go horribly wrong for no discernible reason.

 

I've actually said that maybe I should have had lots of coffee, eaten like crap and smoked, because I have seen so many people who have done that and still had healthy babies.

[Paige]

Coffee has caffeine and caffeine has long been linked with smaller birth weights. I don't think this is anything new. I don't think moderate caffeine intake would have a significant impact on birth weight when you have so many other more important factors such as genetics, nutrition, maternal health, etc. I drink a little caffeine when pregnant. My babies were all small for gestational age. But, you know what?? I'm "small for grown up age," and my kids are small for their age now, and most of my relatives are smaller people. I doubt abstaining completely from caffeine would have increased their birth weights much, and my full term babies were very healthy. I don't think an ounce or so more would have made them healthier. I had 2 preemies, but that had absolutely nothing to do with caffeine. In addition to the correlation vs causation argument, there's also the question of if a correlation has substantive importance.

[TranquilMind]

 

Oh come on..that sounds so silly.

 

 

I don't know. Only two large babies, but it certain was true in my case.

 

And the birth I attended for a friend. And my midwife. I haven't polled everybody, obviously, but we all found it to be true.

[twoxcell]

My midwife told me that larger babies are much more easily delivered than small babies. That big head numbs everything out.

That is about the funniest things I have heard today. ;) I have had some very large babies, largest was 10lbs 7oz and believe me nothing was numb. :rofl: My largest also had extremely large shoulders and she barely made it out. The nurses all had to push on my abdomen while my CNM rotated her shoulders. I did not drink coffee with any of my pregnancies and I have never been diabetic I just make big babies.

[Susan in TN]

Huh. I drank coffee (at Least 2 huge cups a day) and my babies have ranged between 6lb 4oz to 9lb 6oz. Largest baby was born completely natural, was out in record time, and gave me a good idea of what it must feel like to be ripped apart by a pack of hyenas.

 

My OB told me once that studies on coffee and pregnancy usually involved drinking large amounts of very strong coffee, and often in 2nd/3rd world countries where other factors may not be taken into account.

[J-rap]

This makes no sense. All other things being equal (ie. mother's anatomy and physical condition, birth order, etc), smaller babies have shorter labors

 

I'm with Regentrude on this one - they didn't eliminate the other variables.

 

 

 

My smallest baby had the longest labor, by far, and she was my last one.

 

There are so many variables that could enter into the article's theory and throw off the study, I'd hardly know where to begin!

 

I LOVE coffee, but never drank it during my pregnancies. It helped that even smelling coffee made me feel sick whenever I was pregnant!