High Coffee Intake Linked to Fertility Challenges — Ghanaian Expert Warns Couples

Both men and women urged to monitor lifestyle habits as infertility burden rises across sub-Saharan Africa

Couples struggling to conceive should take a hard look at their coffee consumption, a leading Ghanaian fertility specialist has warned, adding that excessive intake of the popular beverage can significantly impair reproductive health in both men and women.

Dr Edem K. Hiadzi, Founder of Lister Hospital and Fertility Centre and immediate past President of the Fertility Society of Ghana, issued the caution during a Merck Foundation Health Media Training held online, urging would-be parents to scrutinise every aspect of their lifestyle.

“Once the baby isn’t coming, watch every single thing you do,” Dr Hiadzi told participants at the training, which was designed to equip journalists across Africa with the tools to cover infertility issues accurately, sensitively and in line with international media ethics standards.

A Broader Crisis

The coffee warning came as part of a wider discussion on the alarming burden of infertility across sub-Saharan Africa — one of the regions with the highest prevalence of the condition globally.

Dr Hiadzi outlined a range of contributing factors, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as Chlamydia and gonorrhoea, which can trigger pelvic inflammatory disease and lead to either infertility or ectopic pregnancies. He also cited unsafe delivery practices by traditional birth attendants and faith-based facilities, noting that non-sterile procedures frequently result in severe pelvic infections that compromise future pregnancies.

Other causes identified by the specialist include tuberculosis, schistosomiasis, female genital mutilation — which he described as still occurring in parts of the developing world — HIV infection, obesity, underweight conditions, poor diet, varicocele, viral infections such as mumps, previous hernia repair, and drug and alcohol abuse.

“HIV can affect the body’s ability to produce the hormones needed for pregnancy and may lead to early menopause,” he noted.

Men Not Spared

Challenging a widely held assumption that infertility is a woman’s problem, Dr Hiadzi stressed that approximately half of all infertility cases are attributable to male factors. He urged the public to shed this misconception and approach reproductive health as a shared responsibility.

The impacts of infertility, he said, extend far beyond the clinical — encompassing domestic violence, particularly against women, divorce, emotional distress, anxiety, depression and diminished self-worth.

Call for Responsible Media Coverage

The training also foregrounded the media’s critical role in reshaping public attitudes towards infertility. Vice-President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Rebecca Ekpe, urged journalists to prioritise expert-led reporting and exercise heightened caution on social media platforms, where misinformation and stigmatising narratives can spread rapidly.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Francisca Tshitenge Bwalya echoed the call, stressing that media coverage of infertility must be both medically accurate and framed in ways that do not compound the social stigma already borne by those affected.

Dr Ruben Kanime, a Merck Foundation alumnus, also addressed the training, speaking to the importance of healthy lifestyles in preventing diabetes and hypertension — conditions increasingly linked to reproductive complications.

Dr Hiadzi closed with a direct appeal to journalists to help normalise the conversation around infertility, describing media practitioners as essential partners in driving the cultural and behavioural shifts needed to address one of Africa’s most under-reported public health challenges.