Ione and Barbara,
These studies seem to be prone to confounding by the placebo effect.  I
think a better designed study would supply mothers with unlabeled, coded
caffeine or decaf coffee or tea, and have them avoid all other sources of
methylxanthines in their diets.  This would seperate out the effect of
doing something (as opposed to nothing) from the true effect of the
caffeine reduction.  I would also prescribe analgesics for a few days, as
sudden caffeine withdrawal causes headaches, and savvy women with
headaches might know they were on the decaffeinated products, interfering
with the blinding...
--
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC  NYC  [log in to unmask]