MATERNAL CAFFEINE CONSUMPTION AND SPONTANEOUS-ABORTION - A PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY

We investigated the relation between caffeine beverage consumption and spontaneous abortion in 2,967 pregnant women planning to deliver at Y ale New Haven Hospital in 1988-1992. We evaluated coffee, tea, and sod a drinking in the: first month of pregnancy in interviews before the e nd of the sixteenth week of gestation. We obtained information on 98.2 % of the pregnancies (including 2,714 singleton livebirths and 135 spo ntaneous abortions). As compared with abstention from caffeine beverag es (coffee, tea, and soda), the adjusted odds ratios for spontaneous a bortion associated with consumption of 1-150, 151-300, and >300 mg caf feine daily were 0.81 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.54-1.20], 0.89 (95% CI = 0.48-1.64), and 1.75 (95% CI = 0.88-3.47), respectively. Dr inking greater than or equal to 3 cups of tea or coffee was associated with elevated risks of spontaneous abortion (adjusted odds ratio = 2. 33, 95% CI = 0.92-5.85; and adjusted odds ratio = 2.63, 95% CI = 1.29- 5.34, respectively). These results, if replicated, suggest that some i ngredient (or correlate) of tea or coffee may account for some of the observed association of caffeine with spontaneous abortion. In this st udy, caffeine consumption is more strongly related to spontaneous abor tion than alcohol or cigarette use in early pregnancy.