Coffee may come as a pleasant surprise during pregnancy; most women can safely enjoy its caffeine benefits if consumed responsibly and in moderation. Each pregnancy differs and your physician can best determine what’s safest for you based on factors like your medical history, stage of gestation and health impacts of different foods on you and other pregnant mothers.

Pregnant women should limit their caffeine consumption to no more than 200 milligrams daily, equivalent to approximately two cups of coffee or one can of cola. If your pregnancy is at higher-risk, however, this limit should be decreased accordingly. Coffee acts as a diuretic, potentially depleting calcium and iron essential for your baby’s development; in addition, caffeine can cause heart palpitations or nervousness among some pregnant women.

Caffeine easily crosses the placenta and can have adverse effects for both mother and fetus. Furthermore, caffeine is poorly metabolized by both mothers and babies during gestation and gestation, potentially building up dangerously high levels. Studies have linked high caffeine consumption during gestation with increased risks of miscarriage, stillbirth and low birth weight in newborns as well as sleep issues in infants.

Due to these risks, many pregnant women opt for caffeine-free pregnancies. But if this is impossible for you, speak to your healthcare provider and discuss options available to you.

Studies have demonstrated that coffee may help gestational diabetics; in fact, women who regularly drink coffee have an lower risk of type 2 diabetes than those who don’t drink coffee daily.

As an alternative to coffee, it is wise to select non-caffeinated beverages as replacements. Fruit juices, herbal tea, water and even sports drinks may serve as great replacements; just ensure their ingredients are suitable for pregnancy.

Pregnant women may safely consume small amounts of caffeine in the form of chocolate, since their unborn fetus doesn’t process chocolate as quickly as caffeine.

While pregnant, it is also wise to avoid artificial sweeteners like aspartame as these have been linked with early puberty in some children. Unfortunately, not much information exists regarding other forms of sweeteners – so it would be advisable to speak to your healthcare provider about your selections of sweeteners.