BMJ  2003;326:1268 (7 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7401.1268

Letter

Consumption of coffee during pregnancy

Article raises more questions than it answers

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Wisborg et al's article raises more issues than it settles.¹ Firstly, coffee contains not only caffeine but a mixture of different ingredients (milk, sugar, stabilisers, flavour, and other alkaloids from coffee beans). Attributing the result of drinking coffee to just one constituent seems illogical. If Wisborg et al want to prove what they contend, they should contrast the group taking eight cups of ordinary coffee to those taking eight cups of decaffeinated coffee.

Secondly, in many parts of the world, tea, chocolate, and cola are consumed on a large scale and in high doses, like traditional Chinese tea in Hong Kong. Yet Hong Kong has one of the lowest perinatal mortality rates in the world. In Japan and China tea is regarded as part of the healthy diet, to be consumed regularly. The same also applies to cola in America and many parts of the world. So what . . . [Full text of this article]

Accident and Emergency Department, North District Hospital, Hong Kong SAR doctor@cuhk.edu.hk

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Relevant Article

Maternal consumption of coffee during pregnancy and stillbirth and infant death in first year of life: prospective study

Kirsten Wisborg, Ulrik Kesmodel, Bodil Hammer Bech, Morten Hedegaard, and Tine Brink Henriksen
BMJ 2003 326: 420. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]