Is one cup of coffee a day safe during pregnancy?

One cup usually stays under 200 mg: the NHS estimates about 100 mg for a cup of instant coffee. Filter and coffee-shop coffee can contain more, so check the caffeine content of large or strong drinks, and talk to your doctor or midwife.

Does tea count toward the 200 mg limit?

Yes. The limit covers caffeine from all sources, and the NHS estimates about 75 mg in a cup of black or green tea. Cola, energy drinks and chocolate count too.

Why is the caffeine limit lower during pregnancy?

The European Food Safety Authority considers up to 400 mg a day safe for healthy adults except pregnant women, for whom its figure is 200 mg. During pregnancy caffeine crosses the placenta and your body clears it much more slowly, and the NHS notes that too much caffeine has been linked to miscarriage and stillbirth.

What about breastfeeding?

The European Food Safety Authority lists the same 200 mg a day under pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the FDA suggests talking to your health care provider about caffeine while breastfeeding.

How much caffeine is safe during pregnancy?

By the Caffeine Clock team · Updated September 2026

Up to 200 mg of caffeine a day from all sources is the figure the European Food Safety Authority, the NHS and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists use for pregnancy. Pregnancy also slows how fast your body clears caffeine, so each drink stays in your system much longer than before.

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What the guidelines say

The European Food Safety Authority concludes that caffeine intakes from all sources up to 200 mg a day do not raise safety concerns for the unborn child. The NHS in the UK advises not having more than 200 mg a day, noting that too much caffeine has been linked to a higher chance of miscarriage and stillbirth.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that moderate caffeine consumption, less than 200 mg a day, does not appear to be a major contributing factor in miscarriage or preterm birth, while any link to growth restriction remains undetermined. The FDA recommends talking to your health care provider about caffeine if you are pregnant, trying to become pregnant or breastfeeding.

What 200 mg looks like

The limit counts every source, not just coffee. These are the NHS estimates for common drinks and foods:

Estimated caffeine in common foods and drinks (NHS)
Food or drink	Caffeine
Cup of instant coffee	100 mg
Cup of black or green tea	75 mg
250 ml can of energy drink	80 mg
Can of cola	40 mg
50 g bar of plain dark chocolate	less than 25 mg
50 g bar of plain milk chocolate	less than 10 mg

Two cups of instant coffee reach 200 mg, and one instant coffee, one cup of tea and a can of cola come to about 215 mg. Filter coffee and coffee from coffee shops can contain more than instant, so check the size and the caffeine figure where you buy it.

Why caffeine lasts longer in pregnancy

Pregnancy slows the liver's breakdown of caffeine. In one study the half-life rose from an average of 3 hours in non-pregnant women to 10.5 hours in the last four weeks of pregnancy, with the increase starting early on; another found that clearance at 38 to 40 weeks was only 39 % of the usual adult value. In most women, values were back to normal within about a month after delivery.

In the model, a 100 mg coffee at 9 am leaves about 17 mg at 10 pm with a 5-hour half-life, but about 44 mg with a 10.5-hour one, and about 21 mg is still there the next morning. Two such coffees, at 9 am and 2 pm, leave about 104 mg at bedtime instead of 52 mg. Caffeine also crosses the placenta. More on this on the caffeine half-life page.

Keeping track

Add your drinks to the calculator above to see your curve, and set a longer half-life under Change to see how pregnancy stretches it. The Caffeine Clock app also charts your daily caffeine intake in Analytics, so you can check each day against 200 mg.

This page summarizes public guidance and is not medical advice. Your doctor or midwife can tell you what is right for you.

Frequently asked questions

: One cup usually stays under 200 mg: the NHS estimates about 100 mg for a cup of instant coffee. Filter and coffee-shop coffee can contain more, so check the caffeine content of large or strong drinks, and talk to your doctor or midwife.
: Yes. The limit covers caffeine from all sources, and the NHS estimates about 75 mg in a cup of black or green tea. Cola, energy drinks and chocolate count too.
: The European Food Safety Authority considers up to 400 mg a day safe for healthy adults except pregnant women, for whom its figure is 200 mg. During pregnancy caffeine crosses the placenta and your body clears it much more slowly, and the NHS notes that too much caffeine has been linked to miscarriage and stillbirth.
: The European Food Safety Authority lists the same 200 mg a day under pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the FDA suggests talking to your health care provider about caffeine while breastfeeding.

More about caffeine

Sources

European Food Safety Authority. Caffeine (topic page summarising the 2015 Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine). https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/caffeine
NHS. Foods to avoid in pregnancy (Caffeine). https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid/
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Committee Opinion No. 462: Moderate Caffeine Consumption During Pregnancy. 2010, reaffirmed 2026. https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2010/08/moderate-caffeine-consumption-during-pregnancy
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much? https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much
Knutti R, Rothweiler H, Schlatter C. The effect of pregnancy on the pharmacokinetics of caffeine. Archives of Toxicology Supplement. 1982;5:187-192. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68511-8_33
Knutti R, Rothweiler H, Schlatter C. Effect of pregnancy on the pharmacokinetics of caffeine. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 1981;21(2):121-126. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00637512
Parsons WD, Pelletier JG. Delayed elimination of caffeine by women in the last 2 weeks of pregnancy. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 1982;127(5):377-380. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1861995/