If you're pregnant and love your morning coffee, you don't have to give it up. But the safe amount is lower than usual, and your body now handles caffeine very differently.
The 200 mg rule
The NHS, ACOG and EFSA all recommend no more than 200 mg of caffeine a day during pregnancy. That's roughly two mugs of instant coffee, or one medium filter coffee. The limit counts every source, including tea, cola, chocolate and energy drinks.
Why the limit is lower
Caffeine crosses the placenta, and a developing baby can't break it down. At the same time, your metabolism slows dramatically. Caffeine's half-life can climb from about 5 hours to 15 hours or more by the third trimester, so it lingers and builds up far longer than usual.
- Filter coffee: about 140 mg per mug. One is fine, two is over.
- Instant coffee: about 100 mg. Two mugs is roughly your daily limit.
- Tea: about 75 mg per mug. Cola: about 40 mg per can.
- Plain chocolate (50 g): about 25 mg.
Because caffeine clears so slowly in pregnancy, Caffy lets you set a pregnancy profile. It uses the longer half-life to track your daily total against the 200 mg limit in real time.