Caffeines Link to Pregnancy Loss
Amanda Kubick
Summary
A new study has linked drinking a significant amount of caffeine to miscarriages. According to the study, caffeine consumed by both the man and women effect the pregnancy. Consuming 3+ cups of caffeinated beverage a day while trying to conceive or after conceiving are on average two times more likely to miscarry. These findings came from a study that documented every caffeinated drink 344 couples in Texas drank while trying to conceive. The women in this study took regular pregnancy tests and of the 344 pregnancies, 98 ended in miscarriage. The study concluded that drinking caffeinated beverages raised the risk of pregnancy loss by 74%. This study also proves that what men eat and drink can affect a women’s chance at conceiving. It is important to note that drinking one to two caffeinated beverages daily is not harmful. Also, women who took multivitamins were 50% less likely to miscarry.
Article Critique
This study was published under health news on the NBC news website. The author of this article is journalist Maggie Fox and contributors include physicians Felix Gussone and Shelly Choo. The study itself was led by Germaine Buck Louis of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The study concluded that drinking more than three caffeinated beverages a day increased the risk of pregnancy loss by 74%. I found a few problems with the conclusions from this study. First, the study fails to mention the ages of the couples in the study, therefor the information could be a little misleading because age is a huge factor contributing to miscarriages. As a reader, we don’t know the diet of the women who we’re trying to become pregnant. Also the study did not look at the different kinds of caffeinated drinks, they simply clustered coffee, tea and soda together as “caffeinated beverages”. I think that it’s important for people accessing this article to know the differences in amounts of caffeine in different types of beverages. For example, there is a great difference in drinking three cups of tea a day versus drinking three monster energy drinks a day. In the article, Dr. Rebecca Starck states that this study can not show cause and effect. I think it is important to inform readers of this because people see articles like this and automatically assume all caffeine is bad. At the end of the article the author concludes that the main message of this study is that it’s important to seek preconception counseling and that “anybody of childbearing age who is contemplating pregnancy should maintain a healthy diet”. Overall, the article is well written, has knowledgable contributers and provides useful information to couples trying to conceive.
APA citation
Fox, M. (2016, March 24). Study Links Caffeine With Pregnancy Loss. Retrieved April 06, 2016, from http://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/study-links-caffeine-pregnancy-loss-n544856