British comedian Tiffany Stevenson was not laughing when a (male) Starbucks barista began lecturing a pregnant customer about her caffeine intake.
Stevenson happened to be in line when an “unbelievable bit of womb bothering” played out before her in a Starbucks. She tweeted about the incident in a thread that’s garnering plenty of attention.
Stevenson wrote, “A pregnant woman got her Caramel Macchiato and the guy behind the counter said ‘Oh, it’s for you. Do you want me to make a decaf?’”
Stevenson continued tweeting, saying the pregnant woman refused the offer. To which the barista allegedly insisted, “No, I should because caffeine is bad for the baby.” Excuse me? Everybody ironing their red gowns and white bonnets? We’d really better have them ready to go at any minute, Handmaids, er — friends.
Check out the whole thread — and the wry comments. It would be as funny as one of her sets, if it weren’t low-key terrifying.
We love that Stevenson tried to intervene, saying, “Are you a man, telling a woman what she should and shouldn’t have during a pregnancy?… Unbelievable. Stop it.” But the dude pressed on for five more minutes anyway, according to Stevenson, who quipped, “Are they also doing Ob/Gyn training at Starbucks these days?”
And for the record — just so we’re all straight on this, science-wise — the American Pregnancy Association rounded up some cold hard facts about caffeine intake for women who are pregnant (so you don’t have to rely on your local barista for health advice) and came up with this conclusion: Moderate levels of caffeine (defined as 150 mg to 300 mg a day) have NOT been associated with negative outcomes in pregnancy. That means one caramel macchiato here or there probably isn’t going to hurt a developing fetus, y’all.
The March of Dimes backs that up, with these caffeine intake recommendations for expecting or nursing moms. Pregnant? Keep your intake of caffeine to roughly one 12-ounce cup of jo. If you’re breastfeeding (a little harder for baristas to spot, possibly), keep caffeine limited to two cups of coffee or tea a day.
And if you’re a dude, keep your caffeine intake recommendations limited to exactly zero a day, cool? Cool. Good talk.
Source: Read Full Article