Herbs in pregnancy and breastfeeding: what the evidence actually says

56 herbs reviewed by the NIH for pregnancy, and 53 with a LactMed monograph for breastfeeding — what is known, what is not, and the studies behind it.

Start here if you have seen a “herbs to avoid” list

Lists of herbs said to be dangerous in pregnancy circulate widely, and most of them trace back to ethnobotanical databases — records of what plants have traditionally been used for, gathered from folk medicine across many cultures.

Those records are a genuine historical resource and we hold one covering 621 plants. They are not a safety assessment, and reading them as one produces alarming results: the same database flags okra, garlic, carrots, coriander and parsley, because somewhere a tradition used them to bring on a period. It records no dose, no part of the plant, and no evidence at all — several entries are veterinary.

So we do not publish it as guidance. What we publish instead is below: the plants for which the US National Library of Medicine has actually reviewed the evidence.

Herbs reviewed by the NIH for pregnancy

From NCCIH, the NIH centre for complementary health. Each page quotes their safety section in full — their verdicts genuinely differ between herbs, which is precisely what the folk lists cannot tell you.

Herbs with a LactMed monograph

Each page summarises what LactMed reports about that herb in breastfeeding. Where it searched and found nothing published, that is marked here so you know before you click — it is an honest answer, and a common one.

Herbs LactMed reviewed and found nothing published on

These have a monograph, but no studies behind it. That is not a finding of harm and not a finding of safety — it means the research does not exist, which is true of most herbs because studies in breastfeeding parents are hard to run.

Two sources, two questions

NCCIH reviews the evidence on herbs generally and states what is known about pregnancy. LactMed is specifically about medicines and breast milk, so it answers the breastfeeding question in more depth. Where both cover a herb, both are worth reading.

Neither can tell you about the bottle in your cupboard. Dose and form change the answer completely — a culinary amount of a spice, a cup of tea and a concentrated extract are three different things, and supplements are not regulated for strength or purity the way medicines are.

Show the evidence

Herb monographs: NIH LactMed (US National Library of Medicine). The ethnobotanical records described above are Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases, public domain, which we use to identify plants rather than to judge them.

How we source and check every figure on this site

Educational reference, not medical advice. Never start or stop a herb, supplement or medicine while pregnant or breastfeeding without checking with your own clinician.