Questions & Answers

Aspartame is not particularly safe, there is a huge controversy over artificial sweeteners and for that reason my OB recommended staying AWAY from them. Aspartame is widely used in diet sodas and it causes birth defects as well as other damage to babies.

200MG of caffeine/day is the max you can have. You are better off drinking 1 can of straight up coke then trying the diet or diet/caffein free varieties.

If the bubbles are what you are after, 7up, sprite, ginger ale, and A&W root beer are caffeine free. Also, go to a health food store. Our stores here (Im in Canada btw) sell "Spritzers" which are smaller carbonated beverages that come in a variety of fruit flavours (grape, black cherry, peach just to name a few) and I believe are free of caffeine or if they have any its a very small amount. They should have other options for you.

IMO anyone, pregnant or not, diabetic or not, dieting or not, should definitely avoid any "diet" variety of beverage.

The main thing is to try and limit your caffeine intake to 200mg max a day. I drink a cup of coffee every morning. It helps keep me regular and if I skip it I get bad head aches. Also coke was the only thing that helped with M/S. for me. I couldnt take the taste of ginger ale regularly.

And as another poster said, ginger ale is great for upset stomachs and will help you burp. I drink that a lot when I have an upset stomach. But really, it is up to you on what you are comfortable with.

I was always told that it's best to avoid diet sodas in general just because of the aspertame unless you're actually dieting or diabetic (don't quote me on this because that was when I was in high school 4 years ago so my memories a little foggy). I think that one regular soda is fine. I actually have only one can a day just because it does help with the upset stomach, my blood sugar crashing, and taking medications. I think that if you're wanting to have one soda a week then that would be more than okay.

i agree, aspartame is not great for anyone's health, whether pregnant or not but ultimately its your own decision. you are doing the right thing by questioning the decision and looking into it before going ahead and drinking it. do some research and decide what u think is best.

Try mabye ginger ale? its also a bubbly drink :)...my doctor recommended it...suppose to help with morning sickness..

I have avoided Aspartame throughout my pregnancy. I did read a while back in the What to Expect book that sucralose is ok (Splenda) and a lot of the Publix-brand diet drinks are sweetened with that so when I wanted a diet coke, I usually just got one in the caffeine free variety. I am usually picky about my "coke" tasting like "coke" (I don't care for off brands of soft drinks) but it's been so long since I've had a REAL coke/diet coke that it hasn't bothered me very much!

I'll tell you - like the other commenter said - you will get a lot of NO! and Sure! Its really up to you. I can say I have at least one diet soda a day. I don't think Aspartame is the most wonderful thing in the world for you - but I think if that is your poison its definitely on the lighter side of things. I also admit that I usually have at least one caffeinated drink a day too (I know, I know, I'm killing my baby and I'm a terrible mom already ;)...As long as you are being healthy and generally making good choices - you can't go wrong...

I'm not one to tell ladies what they should and shouldn't do during pregnancy (frankly because I hate when women do that to me lol) but aspartame is not the best during pregnancy. Some doctors even advise against sugarless gum. Ultimately it's up to you. You will get lots of, "I had diet coke all the time and my baby is perfectly fine!" comments but a lot of chemicals we ingest when pregnant don't raise their ugly heads until later down the road when our babies are toddlers, so don't listen to those silly comments. Just do your research and make the best decision based on what you've learned. I LOVE diet coke so this is killing me lol! There are these sparkling natural fruit beverages that I like. It's not a sweet as pop and has a serving of fruit per can and no aspartame!