Is Decaf Coffee Safe During Pregnancy?

There seems to be a never-ending mass of articles on the web about drinking coffee during pregnancy with as many different opinions. As someone who enjoyed, at minimum, a couple of cups of coffee a day before becoming pregnant, I wanted to dig a but deeper to find out what was okay and what wasn’t.

For many women, the obvious choice is to choose a half-caf or decaf coffee as an alternative to the full shot, but is this really the safest choice? 

What Qualifies as Decaf Coffee?

For coffee to qualify as decaf, it must have at least 97% of the caffeine removed. There are a variety of techniques to decaffeinate coffee and some techniques are safer than others. Having an understanding of the technique used will allow you to choose the right decaf coffee for you and your baby.

AVOID Solvent Based Decaffeination Processes

With solvent based processes, a chemical is added either directly or indirectly to selectively remove the caffeine. In the past, harsh chemicals were used which were later proven to have some not so nice side effects (including cancer!). Nowadays, the solvent based decaffeination process primarily uses methylene chloride and ethyl acetate as the solvent of choice. 

It should be noted that the FDA (Food and Drug Administrations) has determined the use of these solvents to pose an extremely low health risk but personally, I’d prefer a chemical free process if the option is there.

The Swiss Water Process; Our Choice for the Safest Cup of Coffee

The Swiss Water Method uses the elements of water, temperature and time to create decaffeinated coffee that uses no chemicals and retains the original characteristics of the bean. The process begins by soaking a batch of beans in hot water in order to dissolve the caffeine. That water is then drawn off and passed through activated charcoal filters. Through this process, the filters catch the larger caffeine molecules, while allowing smaller oil and flavor molecules to pass through it. 

The drawn off “flavor powered” water is then used on a fresh batch of caffeinated beans but since the water is already saturated with flavor ingredients, the flavors in the new batch of beans are not weakened, instead only the caffeine is removed.

 By way of this process, the coffee beans lose only the caffeine – not the flavor. And because this is a completely chemical free process, it’s the safest kind of decaf coffee for you and your baby throughout your pregnancy. 

This method is almost exclusively used for the decaffeination of organic coffee too.

Always Check with Your Doctor!

Before consuming any coffee, decaf or otherwise, it’s always recommended to consult with your doctor. 

What We Do

Mama Joe Coffee uses the Swiss Water Process to create a roast which is 99.99% caffeine free and is low in acid and safe for your baby. Ethically sourced, our coffee beans are Fair Trade and Organic with every order benefiting the people who harvest our precious beans.