Can you eat chocolate when pregnant?

Find out if it's safe to eat chocolate during pregnancy, plus precautions to take to keep you and your baby healthy.

The official advice on eating chocolate in pregnancy

Good news! Chocolate is considered safe to eat in pregnancy.

However, chocolate contains caffeine so you should make sure you don't eat too much.

The NHS advises having no more than 200mg of caffeine per day when pregnant. This is because high levels of caffeine can lead to low birthweight and have also been linked to miscarriage.

Dark chocolate tends to have more caffeine than milk chocolate. According to the NHS:

• A 50g bar of milk chocolate has less than 10mg of caffeine
• A 50g bar of dark chocolate has less than 25mg of caffeine

According to Healthline, white chocolate does not contain caffeine. Though obviously, it's still best to enjoy it in moderation, as it's high in sugar and fat.

Delicious chocolate recipes

Love chocolate? Why not try one of these great pregnancy-safe recipes?

• Chocolate Rice Krispie cakes
• Chocolate tiffin
• Chocolate and walnut brownies
• Chewy white chocolate and cinnamon cookies
• Banana and chocolate cupcakes

We like The Whole 9 Months, a week-by-week pregnancy nutrition guide, packed full of recipes and medical advice. See more details here at Amazon.

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