Objective: To study the association between coffee consumption during pregnancy and the risk of stillbirth and infant death in the first year of life.
Design: Prospective follow up study.
Setting: Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, 1989-96.
Participants: 18 478 singleton pregnancies in women with valid information about coffee consumption during pregnancy.
Main outcome measures: Stillbirth (delivery of a dead fetus at > or =28 weeks' gestation) and infant death (death of a liveborn infant during the first year of life).
Results: Pregnant women who drank eight or more cups of coffee per day during pregnancy had an increased risk of stillbirth compared with women who did not drink coffee (odds ratio=3.0, 95% confidence interval 1.5 to 5.9). After adjustment for smoking habits and alcohol intake during pregnancy, the relative risk of stillbirth decreased slightly. Adjustment for parity, maternal age, marital status, years of education, occupational status, and body mass index did not substantially change the estimates of association. There was no significant association between coffee consumption and death in the first year of life after adjustment for smoking habits during pregnancy.
Conclusion: Drinking coffee during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of stillbirth but not with infant death.