The Association Between Coffee and Tea Consumption During Pregnancy and Preterm Delivery: Case–Control Study

OBJECTIVE: To assess a possible association between coffee and tea consumption and preterm delivery. METHODS: A case–control design was implemented on a sample of women who were admitted for delivery to a tertiary hospital in the north of Jordan. Three hundred and fourteen cases and 796 controls were evaluated. The study was conducted while women were in the hospital for delivery. They were questioned about coffee and tea consumption and relevant confounding factors. Women were asked to state the average number of coffee and tea cups they drank per day. RESULTS: The mean coffee consumption among women with preterm delivery was 0.75 cups/day ±1.23 and the mean tea consumption was 1.47 cups/day± 1.76. Multivariable logistic analysis revealed that increased age (OR=1.05; CI=1.02–1.08), parity (OR=3.82, CI=2.58–5.64), history of abortions (OR=1.69; CI=1.21–2.35), family history of preterm deliveries (OR=2.45, CI=1.33–4.52), having treatment for subfertility (OR=12.14, CI=2.39–61.62), diabetes mellitus (OR=2.22, CI=1.06–4.66), worsened emotional status during pregnancy (OR=2.35, CI=1.49–3.72), short inter-pregnancy interval (OR=1.72, CI=1.10–2.72), no iron consumption (OR=1.46, CI=1.06–2.03), using folic acid (OR=2.45, CI=1.33–4.52), and black colour women (OR=2.87, CI=1.35–6.10) were predictive for preterm delivery. After controlling for all significant predictors, coffee and tea consumption during pregnancy was not significantly associated with increased odds of preterm delivery. CONCLUSION: These results do not support an association between coffee and tea consumption and preterm delivery.