Coffee-lovers rejoice! If you were worried about giving up joe during pregnancy, then relax. A new study has revealed that women drinking and eating moderate amounts of caffeine during pregnancy are not harming their child's intelligence.
The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital research, one of the first studies to focus on how in utero caffeine exposure affects a child's future intelligence (IQ) and behavior later in childhood, found caffeine did not lead to a reduced IQ or increased behavioral problems.
Researchers did not find evidence of an adverse association of maternal pregnancy caffeine consumption with child cognition or behavior at 4 or 7 years of age, said principal investigator Mark A. Klebanoff.
Co-author Sarah Keim said that taken as a whole, they consider their results to be reassuring for pregnant women who consume moderate amounts of caffeine or the equivalent to 1 or 2 cups of coffee per day.
The study appears in American Journal of Epidemiology.