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April 3rd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda TUESDAY, April 3 (HealthDay News) — Caffeine consumption among
expectant or new mothers does not appear to affect the nighttime sleeping
habits of their newborns, new Brazilian research indicates.
The conclusion is based on an analysis of sleeping patterns among more
than 4,200 infants until the age of 3 months, in light of the
caffeine-consumption habits of their mothers both before and after
delivery.
Researchers looked at two beverages: coffee and mate, a hot tea-like
beverage
popular in their area.
The team, led by study author Dr. Ina Santos of the postgraduate
program in epidemiology at the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil,
reports its observations online and in the May print issue of
Pediatrics.
The authors note that it is very common for newborns to experience
nighttime awakenings, and that caffeine consumption has long been linked
to sleep disruption and insomnia among adult drinkers.
To see whether caffeine consumption among pregnant women and nursing
mothers affects their child’s sleep, Santos’ team tracked more than 4,200
infants who were born in 2004 in the city of Pelotas, with a specific
focus on 885 infants within that group.
All the new mothers were interviewed at the hospital immediately after
delivery and then three months later to gauge their caffeine-drinking
habits. Heavy coffee drinkers were defined as those who consumed 300
milligrams or more of caffeine per day, either via coffee or some other
caffeinated beverage.
According to the Mayo Clinic, two to four cups of brewed coffee contain
between 200 and 300 milligrams of caffeine.
All the newborns were examined at birth, with follow-up exams conducted
at three months. At that point, the mothers provided details on their
child’s sleep habits during the prior 15 days, including total day and
night sleep hours and bed-sharing practices.
Defining night awakenings as being any time parents were awakened by a
child’s arousal, the researchers also asked parents to tally the frequency
of their child’s nighttime waking episodes and indicate any apparent
causes for such awakenings. Frequent awakening was defined as a child
waking up three or more times per night.
Mothers also made an overall assessment of the quality of their baby’s
sleep habits.
All but one of the mothers regularly consumed some caffeine. About one
in five was considered a heavy caffeine drinker during pregnancy, and more
than 14 percent continued to drink caffeine heavily as their newborns
reached 3 months of age.
As for the babies, nearly 14 percent were frequent nighttime
wakers.
Although there was some indication that nighttime wakening was more
prevalent among babies whose mothers were heavy caffeine consumers during
pregnancy and nursing, the connection was not statistically
significant.
The researchers concluded that there was no evidence that caffeine
consumption, at any particular level, could be linked to sleep-pattern
disruptions among the infants.
Lona Sandon, a registered dietitian and assistant professor of clinical
nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, said although
caffeine consumption among pregnant women and new mothers has long been a
concern among pediatricians, it has certainly never risen to the level of
alarm over alcohol consumption or cigarette use.
“Coffee drinking in that situation has never been perceived as evil or
bad,” she said. “But, depending on the pediatrician, oftentimes mothers
are encouraged to limit caffeine intake during pregnancy, often to just
one cup of coffee a day — or to stop drinking it altogether. And that’s
because it’s a central nervous system stimulant that can increase the
baby’s heart rate in utero, and can cause some distress. And then, after
delivery, the baby might be getting the caffeine through the breast
milk.”
“But it should be pointed out that the 300 milligrams of coffee they’re
talking about here is really not such an outlandish amount,” Sandon said.
“It’s really about three cups of a standard six- to eight-ounce cup of
coffee. And that’s just one grande Starbucks, really.”
“At that amount, it could be that coffee drinking is more likely a
problem for the mother than for the infant,” she added. “The child’s sleep
patterns might not be disrupted. But it could actually be disrupting the
mother’s sleep patterns at a time when it’s already difficult for the
mother to get adequate rest.”
Dr. Aparajitha Verma, medical director of the Methodist Hospital Sleep
Disorder Center in Houston and an assistant professor in the neurology
department at Methodist Neurological Institute, cautioned that nailing
down maternal caffeine consumption’s specific impact on newborns is an
extremely tricky endeavor.
“Nighttime wakening among babies that age can be due to so many
different things,” she said. “So to tease out caffeine’s role is going to
be very difficult. I think it’s a valid concern, and there certainly might
be a connection. Caffeine’s half-life is typically five to seven hours,
and it’s well known to cause sleep disruption among adults. But whether
that translates into trouble among these women’s infants is something that
clearly we just don’t know yet.”
More information
For more about caffeine’s impact on sleep, visit the National Sleep Foundation.
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