by Dr. Thea-Nicole Davis MBBS, DM (OB-GYN), Jamaica Dr. Thea-Nicole Davis is our Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist who answers your questions and addresses your concerns on medical matters pertaining to bumps, babies and beyond. Dr. Davis is mother to 3 yr old Imani. She is an avid reader who, like all our contributing writers, has a passion for children and parenting. Dr. Davis lives in Mandeville, and practices in both Kingston and Mandeville, Jamaica.
Dear Doc, I’m a coffee drinker. However with my pregnancy now, I’ve managed to eliminate coffee totally, thinking that Teas would be a good replacement. But they seem to contain just as much caffeine. Any suggestions?
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Caffeine intake during pregnancy can be potentially harmful for your growing baby and has been reported to be associated with several adverse pregnancy outcomes, including early pregnancy loss, preterm birth, and impaired fetal growth. Coffee, tea, cocoa and some carbonated soft drinks are the main sources of caffeine intake. It is recommended that pregnant women limit caffeine consumption to less than 200 to 300 mg per day to potentially reduce their risk of possible adverse reproductive effects. Coffee contains 50 to 70 percent more caffeine than tea and other products. As a guide one cup of coffee contains approximately 100mg-200mg of caffeine depending on how it is prepared e.g. Instant versus brewed. Green tea (6 oz) contains approximately 40 mg and Black tea (6 oz) 45 mg. Avoiding caffeine as much as possible is however the safest option.
I think this magazine is great, and your column is very informative. I wish I’d had this with my first 2 pregnancies. On my third now, and I’m very curious about cord blood banking in Jamaica. Is it available here or anywhere in the Caribbean? Firstly I would like to thank you for highly rating this extraordinary magazine. Cord blood banking is relatively new to the Caribbean and unfortunately at this time there are no cord blood banks available within the Caribbean region. However, cord blood can be taken at the time of delivery here in Jamaica and sent to a cord blood bank overseas. This is accommodated by your Obstertrician and Gynacologist who will contact the cord blood bank of your choice who will then send a special kit and instructions to collect the cord blood. Once collected it would be sent immediately via a courier service to the bank. Two main types of cord blood banks exist, public cord banks and private cord banks. In addition to these two main types of cord blood banks, some private and public cord blood banks provide a service called directed cord blood banking in which cord blood is reserved for a sibling or family member with a known potentially transplant-treatable disease.
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