Coffee and tea linked to low fertility

DRINKING TOO much coffee can significantly reduce the chances of a woman with fertility problems getting pregnant, a study has shown.

Doctors in the Netherlands studied the lifestyle factors influencing pregnancy in almost 9,000 women who had struggled to conceive. They found that drinking four or more cups of coffee or tea a day could reduce the chances of a natural pregnancy by 26 per cent.

The effect of coffee was the same as that of drinking excess alcohol. Being overweight and smoking were both strong influences.

Dr Bea Linsten, from Radboud University in Nijmegan, presented her study at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Barcelona. She followed the progress of 8,669 women who had undergone In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment.

A total of 16 per cent went on to conceive naturally, 45 per cent within six months of their last round of IVF. – PA

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times