January 27, 1998. There may be a link between caffeine intake by pregnant women and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, according to new findings published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood. SIDS is the unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant, whose cause of death remains unexplained after a postmortem investigation. For some time, doctors have advised pregnant women to avoid coffee, tea and other caffeinated beverages, because studies have linked them to miscarriages and low birth weights. The findings show that a pregnant mother's high caffeine intake may alter her fetus's respiratory system.
Caffeine is a drug.
It has an effect on the respiratory centers of the baby.