Caffeine Consumption and Incidence of Hypertension in Pregnancy

To study the effects of caffeine consumption on incidence of pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension. In a case-control study, two groups of pregnant women were selected as follows: one group included 40 women suffering from hypertension in pregnancy, while the other group comprised 100 healthy pregnant women. Inclusion criteria for both groups were normal BMI (19-22) before pregnancy, no high-risk age group (18 -35 years) for preeclampsia, no underlying disease, no history of abortion, and regular prenatal care. We evaluated the amount an duration of caffeine consumption in both groups. In nine (25.5%) mothers of preeclampsia group and15 (15.8%) mothers of healthy pregnant group were observed to consume excessive amount of tea (more than four cups a day). In the preeclampsia group, excessive consumption of tea was seen, but this difference (difference in what??) was not significant. Among 21(51%) mothers in preeclampsia group and 64 (64.7%) mothers in the other group, there is not a significant relation in drinking different types of caffeine, like dark coca, soft drinks, or coffee with occurring of preeclampsia. After evaluation the obtained data, we did not observe any relationship between the risk of preeclampsia and consumption of different types of caffeine (tea, coffee, or soft drinks). Perhaps, more holistic and broader studies in this area are required.