Can I take caffeine while pregnant or breastfeeding?

If pregnant or breast-feeding, ask a health professional before use.

Drug Facts label: Stay Awake (oral), United Natural Foods, Inc. dba UNFI. Label on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.

Pregnancy Pregnancy Category C Concern for the teratogenicity of caffeine is not relevant when administered to infants. In studies performed in adult animals, caffeine (as caffeine base) administered to pregnant mice as sustained release pellets at 50 mg/kg (less than the maximum recommended intravenous loading dose for infants on a mg/m 2 basis), during the period of organogenesis, caused a low incidence of cleft palate and exencephaly in the fetuses. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women.

Prescribing label, section “Pregnancy”: CAFFEINE CITRATE (intramuscular, intravenous), Micro Labs Limited. Label on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.

This quote is from the intramuscular/intravenous formulation label.

Caffeine appears in breastmilk rapidly after maternal ingestion. Insufficient high-quality data are available to make good evidence-based recommendations on safe maternal caffeine consumption.[1] Fussiness, jitteriness and poor sleep patterns have been reported in the infants of mothers with very high caffeine intakes equivalent to about 10 or more cups of coffee daily. Studies in mothers taking 5 cups of coffee daily found no stimulation in breastfed infants 3 weeks of age and older. A maternal intake limit of 300 to 500 mg daily might be a safe level of intake for most mothers, although European authorities set a likely safe level at 200 mg.[2-4] Maternal doses of caffeine greater than 130 mg daily may decrease weight gain in their exclusively breastfed infants, but this needs further confirmation.[5] However, preterm and younger newborn infants metabolize caffeine very slowly and may have serum levels of caffeine and other active caffeine metabolites similar to their mothers' levels, so a lower intake level preferable in the mothers of these infants.[2,6,7] Coffee is thought to decrease milk supply in some cultures, but there is no scientific information on coffee and milk supply.[8] Other sources of caffeine, such as cola and energy drinks, yerba mate or guarana, will have similar dose-related effects on the breastfed infant. Coffee intake of more than 450 mL daily may decrease breastmilk iron concentrations and result in mild iron deficiency anemia in some breastfed infants.[9]

“Summary of Use during Lactation”, LactMed record “Caffeine” (LM582), quoted verbatim. Everything LactMed reports about Caffeine while breastfeeding.