Yerba Mate and Pregnancy – Can You Drink It While Pregnant? Caffeine and Safe Amounts

Two lines on a test and the first question can be surprisingly down-to-earth: what to drink in the morning instead of coffee now? Yerba mate often comes up in this question, because on one hand it’s “just an infusion,” but on the other hand it contains caffeine, which every mom-to-be has heard needs to be watched during pregnancy.

The answer isn’t a simple “yes” or “no.” Below are specific numbers you can use as a basis for a conversation with your OB-GYN – because they know your pregnancy, not an article on the internet.

How much caffeine a yerba mate session actually delivers

Yerba mate is drunk differently than coffee – not one cup, but a matero refilled multiple times over several hours. A full session with about 50 g of dried leaves delivers a total of 60–120 mg of caffeine, which is roughly the same as one strong drip coffee (90–150 mg), just spread out over time instead of drunk all at once. We covered these numbers in more detail in the article Does Yerba Mate Contain Caffeine? How Many mg and Comparison with Coffee.

Spreading it out over time matters – you don’t get 100 mg of caffeine all at once, but rather a dozen or so milligrams with each successive refill. For your body, that’s a completely different load than one large coffee drunk in five minutes.

What the guidelines say about caffeine during pregnancy

The commonly accepted limit cited by most obstetric guidelines, including recommendations from the World Health Organization, is about 200 mg of caffeine per day from all sources combined – not just beverages, but also chocolate or certain pain medications. One moderate yerba mate session (60–120 mg) takes up between a third and nearly half of that limit, leaving less room for the rest of the day than, say, one bowl of matcha or a single espresso.

This is still a general limit, not tailored to your specific pregnancy. In cases of gestational hypertension, a history of miscarriage or fetal growth restriction, your doctor may recommend a lower threshold or complete avoidance – and their recommendation takes precedence over any general figure from an article.

Why the brewing method matters here

Unlike matcha, where you drink the whole ground leaf, yerba mate is an infusion – water is poured over the dried leaves and you drink the liquid, while most of the leaf ends up in the bin after a dozen or so rounds. In practice this means that the stronger the dried leaves and the longer the session, the more caffeine you’ll drink overall, but still at a pace of a few to a dozen milligrams per round, not in one hit like with an espresso. If you want more control over the amount, a shorter session (fewer rounds) or a smaller portion of dried leaves in the matero is the simplest way to stay comfortably within your daily limit.

The first trimester – why it can be harder regardless of caffeine

The caffeine limit itself applies throughout the whole pregnancy, not just at the beginning. In practice, the first trimester tends to be harder for a different reason: morning sickness can mean that a bitter, intense infusion just doesn’t sit well in the stomach, no matter how much caffeine it contains. If that’s the case for you, a weaker infusion (less dried leaves, shorter steeping time) or moving the session to later in the day usually helps more than counting milligrams.

Breastfeeding – a separate topic we’ve already covered

If you’re wondering how things look after giving birth, while breastfeeding the mechanism is different, and we have a separate, dedicated article on the subject: Drinking Yerba Mate and Breastfeeding. We won’t repeat those findings here – in short: caffeine passes into breast milk only to a small extent, but newborns metabolise it more slowly than adults, so watching your baby’s reaction matters.

When it’s better to give it up entirely

There are situations where even moderate caffeine is not advisable, and it’s your doctor who should decide this, not a solo read of the internet: pregnancy-induced hypertension or pre-eclampsia, a history of miscarriage, fetal growth restriction, a multiple pregnancy with complications. In none of these cases can a blog article replace a conversation with the gynaecologist who knows your test results.

How to calculate your daily limit, not just from yerba mate

The 200 mg limit applies to the total for the whole day, not just yerba mate, so it’s worth working out roughly what adds up to it. An example day: a shorter matero session in the morning (approx. 60 mg), a piece of dark chocolate after lunch (20–30 mg per 50 g), a cup of black tea in the afternoon (30–50 mg). The total stays within the limit, but without much room to spare. The problem arises when your morning yerba mate is joined by a coffee “for company” and an energy drink in the afternoon – then the limit disappears very quickly, often without even realising it’s been exceeded.

Why there’s no “caffeine-free” yerba mate

As with most infusions made from real leaves, you won’t find a sensible decaffeinated yerba mate on the market. The decaffeination process, known from coffee, requires chemically or water-based washing out of the alkaloids from the leaf, which changes the flavour and intensity that yerba mate is known for. If someone wants a milder flavour to alternate with a classic session, they can reach for a herbal blend based on yerba mate – it’s still an infusion with caffeine, just with added herbs, not a caffeine-free product.

Check the product: Yerba Mate – Herbal Balance – check the current price

How to drink yerba mate during pregnancy, if your doctor has no objections

A shorter, less intense session, preferably in the morning rather than in the evening, so the caffeine doesn’t add to sleep that’s already restless during pregnancy. If you’re just starting out, or prefer to control your portion from day one, a set with a smaller matero and bombilla makes it easier to keep track of how much dried leaves you’re using per round – instead of guessing how much you’ve actually poured into the vessel.

Check the product: Starter Set – Bombilla + Matero + Yerba Herbal Balance – check the current price

Yerba mate and pregnancy – frequently asked questions

Is yerba mate safer than coffee during pregnancy?

Caffeine is released over several hours of sipping instead of hitting your system all at once like with coffee, which many people find gentler. That doesn’t mean it’s “zero” – you still need to count it toward your daily total along with tea, chocolate or other drinks.

How much yerba can I drink per day during pregnancy?

One, rather short session with a matero per day is a reasonable, cautious reference point for a healthy, uncomplicated pregnancy. More than one session should first be discussed with your doctor, because it’s easy to exceed the total limit of 200 mg of caffeine from all sources.

Can yerba mate harm the baby’s development?

High doses of caffeine from all sources combined have been linked in studies to pregnancy risks, which is why a recommended limit of 200 mg per day exists at all. One moderate session with yerba fits within this limit, but without much room to spare – it’s your doctor, who knows your test results, who should confirm that there’s nothing standing in your way.

Can I drink yerba in the first weeks, before I know I’m pregnant?

Daily, moderate caffeine intake within the generally accepted limit is not considered a risk during this period. If you’re planning a pregnancy or suspect you might be pregnant and want full peace of mind, the simplest thing is to ask about it at your next visit to the gynaecologist.

Is there caffeine-free yerba mate?

Not in any sensible, widely available form – decaffeination destroys the flavour and intensity that yerba is known for. A milder alternative to alternate with a classic session is a herbal blend based on yerba, but it’s still an infusion with caffeine, not a caffeine-free product.

No article, including ours, knows your test results or the course of your pregnancy. Treat these numbers as a starting point for a conversation with your doctor, not as a final answer.