They Say: Drinking Coffee While Pregnant Can Affect the Fetus

SunnyChanel — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:00:00 GMT

A new study came out today that makes the claim that pregnant women who drink caffeine, even just one cup of joe a day, are at a higher risk in giving birth to a low birth rate baby. Now, I know every woman is different, but I drank coffee every day while pregnant (with the blessing of my OBGYN, of course) and my daughter was born at 10 ½ pounds. So my personal results were that drinking coffee didn’t do squat in percolating a lighter baby.

A more scientific study than my own anecdotal one, was done by the British Medical Journal where they found that women who drank one or two cups of coffee had a 20% risk of having a low birth weight baby and woman who had two or three cups had a 50% risk. But it’s not just java, they stated that “any source of caffeine, including that from tea, cola, chocolate and some prescription drugs, to relatively slower fetal growth.”

This follows a study in the U.S. in January that linked miscarriages to larger doses of caffeine (two or cups of coffee a day). To read more about this recent study, click here. And if you’re knocked up you may consider putting down that latte, mocha or cup of Sumatra, you’ll be drinking plenty of coffee once you are a sleep deprived new parent.

Japanese Not Having Sex. Or Babies

Karen Murphy — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 19:08:00 GMT

The plummeting birth rate in Japan, causing fears of future tax revenue and labor shortages, has the country scrambling to determine the cause. A survey revealed that it had a lot to do with sex: almost 40% of Japanese adults between the ages of 18-49 are getting it on less than once a month, according to a survey that was performed in the country. Married adults had a slightly higher rate at just under 35% who hadn't had sex in more than a month.

So what's going on? Officials blame high stress levels, a decline in physical communication skills (what?), and (you knew this was coming) an increasingly Web-based society as factors leading to the decline. In addition, a University of Chicago study recently ranked Japan dead last out of 29 countries in sexual satisfaction, with only 25% of people responding reporting that they're satisfied in bed. (I am so not moving to Japan.)

While it's true that elsewhere birth rates are skyrocketing, even creating food shortages, it sounds as if this is a major concern for Japan, but it sounds as well as if this is becoming an inherent cultural matter and not one easily fixed by governmental proclamation ("You will have sex every week, no, twice a week! And you will like it!"). It'll be interesting to see whether other "Web-based" societies follow suit with a similar malaise.

Strollerderby : low birth rate

They Say: Drinking Coffee While Pregnant Can Affect the Fetus

Japanese Not Having Sex. Or Babies