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

Letter

Consumption of coffee during pregnancy

Authors should adjust for history of drug abuse

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

EDITOR—We read with interest the article of Wisborg et al.¹ The authors support that high maternal coffee consumption during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of stillbirth but not with infant death. They mention that women with a high intake of coffee are more likely to be smokers and to have a high intake of alcohol. They correctly adjusted their results for smoking and drinking habits. However, they do not provide any information about drug abuse among these women.

Consumption of eight or more cups of coffee is suggestive of addictive behaviour. The use of illegal drugs such as cocaine is associated with an increased incidence of parallel cigarette and alcohol use.^{2 3} The adverse effect of maternal use of heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, and benzodiazepines in pregnancy has been adequately documented.^3–5 The use of cannabis may not be a major prognostic factor regarding the outcome of pregnancy . . . [Full text of this article]

sindosgyn@hotmail.com

Department of Women's Health, Whittington Hospital, London N19 5NF

Women's Health Directorate, St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH

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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
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