Pregnant women can safely drink coffee as caffeine does not affect their unborn baby, according to a new study.

    Pregnant women can safely drink coffee as caffeine does not affect their unborn baby, according to a new study.

    Researchers found no evidence of a link betweenprematurity, birth weight and the amount of caffeine consumed by mothers-to-be.

    Previous studies suggested caffeine might harm unborn babies as it stays in the system longer in pregnant women, passing easily to a growing baby.

    Health officials have warned that a high caffeine intake could affect birth weight or the chance of having a miscarriage.

    Pregnant women are advised against drinking more than four cups of coffee a day - or six cups of tea.

    The study, by the University of Aarhus in Denmark, recruited more than 1,000 women before they were 20 weeks' pregnant, who drank at least three cups of coffee a day.

    The group was split into two, with 568 women drinking ordinary instant coffee and 629 drinking decaffeinated.

    The authors then monitored the birth weight of 1,150 newborn babies and the length of pregnancy for the babies.

    The study, published by the British Medical Journal, found 'no significant differences' between the two groups for birth weight or length of pregnancy.

    The researchers concluded that a moderate reduction in caffeineintakein the second half of pregnancy had 'no effect' on the outcome.

    The women were not told what type of coffee they were drinking, and the research was adjusted to take into account factors such as age, weight and whether the women smoked.

    When the adjustments were made, the average weight of babies born to women in the decaffeinated group was a mere 16g higher than those born to women in the caffeinated group, the study said.

    The average difference in the length of pregnancy was less than two days.

    A spokesman for the British Coffee Association said: "This new study is very interesting and supports the consistent advice given that pregnant women should stick to a safe upper limit - in line with guidance issued by the Food Standards Agency. This equates to three cups of brewed, or four cups of instant coffee.
    
    研究人員發現，準媽媽所攝入的咖啡因量與早產及新生兒出生體重之間并沒有什么關系。

    之前有研究表明，由于咖啡因在孕婦體內停留的時間更長，很容易進入胎兒體內，因此會對胎兒發育產生危害。

    一些衛生官員曾發出警告，大量攝入咖啡因會影響新生兒的體重，可能還會造成流產。

    他們建議，孕婦每天最多只能喝四杯咖啡，或六杯茶。

    這項由丹麥阿胡斯大學所做的研究共有1000多名懷孕不到20周的孕婦參加，這些孕婦每天至少喝三杯咖啡。

    研究人員將這些孕婦分為兩組，其中的568人喝普通的速溶咖啡，而另外629人則喝不含咖啡因的咖啡。

    研究人員對每個孕婦進行定期監控，檢測她們從可樂等飲料中所攝入的咖啡因量。

    之后，研究人員對這些孕婦所生的1150個嬰兒的出生體重及她們的妊娠期進行了監測。

    這項由《英國醫學》雜志公布的研究發現，這兩組孕婦所生嬰兒的出生體重及她們的妊娠期長短并沒有"明顯差別"。

    研究人員得出結論，在懷孕后期適量減少咖啡因的攝入量就不會對胎兒產生什么影響。

    這些孕婦并不知道自己喝的是哪種咖啡。此外，研究人員還根據孕婦的年齡、體重以及她們是否抽煙等因素對研究結果進行了調整。

    經過調整后的研究結果顯示，未攝入咖啡因的那組孕婦所生嬰兒的平均體重比喝速溶咖啡的孕婦所生的嬰兒僅僅重16克。

    而兩組孕婦妊娠期長度的平均差別還不到兩天。

    英國咖啡協會的一位發言人說：“這項新研究很有意思，它得出的結論和英國食品標準委員會提出的‘孕婦安全咖啡攝入量’的建議相一致，也就是說，孕婦每天可以喝三杯煮咖啡，或四杯速溶咖啡。”