This Pregnant Woman Wants A Barista To Know Her Body Isn't 'Fair Game'

An Australian mom who is pregnant with her third child recently wrote about her experience in a local cafe when a barista refused to serve her coffee once he realized she was pregnant.

Alexandra Smith had been fasting for 12 hours for routine blood tests and visited a local coffee shop near Sydney where she ordered a "proper espresso complete with caffeine," she wrote.

"'No,' he responded motioning towards my belly. 'No caffeine for you,'" Smith wrote. "I thought I misheard. This was a coffee I was ordering, not a martini."

Smith likened this response to what she believes is a common societal approach to pregnant women: their bodies have become "fair game."

"Pregnancy, it seems, is viewed as an out-of-body experience," she wrote. "Comments that would never be uttered to a non-pregnant woman, let alone a man, suddenly become totally acceptable to a woman sporting a baby bump."

The barista instead offered Smith a decaffeinated coffee or a weakened flat white as an alternative. And although Smith agreed to take a less-caffeinated beverage, the mom wrote that she wishes she demanded a "proper coffee" instead.

"But mother guilt is a powerful thing," Smith wrote.

While some studies have linked caffeine intake to higher risks of miscarriage, recent studies have shown that moderate caffeine consumption -- a limit of 200 mg or about one cup of coffee a day, is safe during pregnancy.

Some commenters on Smith's editorial noted that the barista was simply concerned, while others called his actions "out of line" and "appalling."

One commenter wrote, "It's your body and so it should be your choice. It was not his place to say anything!"

Read Smith's entire editorial here.

H/T: BabyCenter Blog

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