The Nation - News from Jan. 10, 1989

Women who drink beverages with caffeine may take longer to become pregnant, say scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, N.C. The study was published in December in The Lancet, a British medical journal. A group of 104 women planning to become pregnant provided data on the amount of caffeinated beverages they consumed during the time they tried to conceive, the study said. Women who drank more than one cup of caffeinated coffee a day, or the equivalent in tea and colas, took significantly longer to become pregnant than women who drank less. “Our data suggests that it is the women’s current caffeine consumption, not her past habits, that affects her fertility,” said Dr. Allen J. Wilcox, principal investigator.