Moderate level of caffeine consumption by mothers does not affect the baby, a new study suggests

The study says that caffeine consumption during pregnancy and by nursing mothers seems not to have consequences on sleep of infants at the age of 3 months.

In 2010, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said that 200 milligrams of caffeine a day will not be a major contributing factor in miscarriage or preterm birth.

A link between caffeine consumption by the mother and the babies’ sleep has not yet been established.

For their study, Dr. Ina Santos and her colleagues at Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil, interviewed 885 new moms. All but one of the mothers drank caffeinated beverages during pregnancy and about 20 percent consumed at least 300mg per day. The researchers asked these mothers about their infants’ sleeping habits at the age of three months.

The researchers found no link between mom’s caffeine drinking and their infants’ sleeping habits.

"I think this report adds to the growing body of literature suggesting that moderate caffeine consumption during pregnancy is generally safe," said Dr. William H Barth Jr., Chief of Maternal-fetal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, to Reuters.

The study has been published online in Pediatrics.

An earlier study from 1982 conducted by Dr. Kenneth J. Ryan, suggests that "coffee consumption has minimal effect, if any, on the outcome of pregnancy." The researchers analyzed interviews and medical record data of 12,205 non-diabetic, non-asthmatic women to evaluate the relation between coffee consumption and adverse outcomes of pregnancy.