A University of Queensland-led study has failed to find any strong links between drinking coffee during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental difficulties in children, but researchers are advising expectant mothers to continue following medical guidelines on caffeine consumption.
Dr Gunn-Helen Moen and PhD student Shannon D’Urso from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) led an in-depth genetic analysis of data from tens of thousands of families in Norway.
“Scandinavians are some of the biggest coffee consumers in the world, drinking at least 4 cups a day, with little stigma about drinking coffee during pregnancy,” Dr Moen said.
“Our analysis found no link between coffee consumption during pregnancy and children’s neurodevelopmental difficulties.”
