Echinacea in pregnancy and breastfeeding

What NCCIH says about safety

It’s likely safe for most adults to consume products with extracts of E. purpurea, and some mixtures of E. purpurea and E. angustifolia, for short periods of time. However, some people have allergic reactions to echinacea, which may be severe. The most common side effects of echinacea are digestive tract symptoms, such as abdominal pain, nausea, or stomach pain. It’s possibly safe for children to consume E. purpurea extract for short periods of time. However, some children participating in a clinical trial of echinacea developed rashes, which may have been caused by an allergic reaction. There is concern that allergic reactions could be severe in some children. Before giving echinacea to a child, talk with the child’s health care provider. There is conflicting evidence about whether echinacea interacts with some drugs metabolized by the liver, and there are theoretical reasons to suspect that echinacea might interact with immunosuppressants or caffeine. If you take any type of medicine, talk to your health care provider before using echinacea or other herbal products; some herbs and medicines interact in harmful ways. Some studies of the use of solid or liquid extracts of E. purpura and E. angustifolia suggest it is possibly safe for up to 7 days during the first trimester of pregnancy. If you’re considering using echinacea while pregnant, consult your health care provider. Little is known about whether it’s safe to use echinacea while breastfeeding.

Quoted in full from NCCIH so nothing is lost in summarising. Where they say “little is known”, that means the studies do not exist — not that the herb is known to be safe, and not that it is known to be harmful.

How much is actually known

Many studies have been done in people on echinacea for the common cold and other respiratory tract infections. Much less research has been done on the use of echinacea for other health purposes.

What the research has found

Taking echinacea may slightly reduce your chances of catching a cold. It’s still unclear whether echinacea can shorten the length of a cold. More research is needed to confirm these findings. One recent study found that echinacea might reduce the chance of respiratory tract infection and associated complications in children, but overall, there isn’t enough evidence to support a clear connection. Before giving a child an echinacea product, talk with the child’s health care provider. It’s unclear whether echinacea is helpful for other health conditions, including eczema. Recent National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)-sponsored research suggests that the activity of echinacea extracts is influenced by soil conditions that affect the plant’s bacterial community.

Before you take this

Dose and form change the answer completely. A culinary amount of a spice, a cup of tea, and a concentrated supplement extract are three different things, and most research is done on the last of them.

Supplements are also not regulated like medicines, so strength and purity vary between products. Bring the actual bottle to your midwife, doctor or pharmacist — that conversation is worth more than any page, including this one.