Can I take chlorhexidine while pregnant or breastfeeding?
A plain-words look at what the NHS, the US drug label and LactMed say about chlorhexidine.
In short
Pregnancy: Products containing chlorhexidine are generally thought to be OK to use in pregnancy.
Breastfeeding: You can use any chlorhexidine treatment while breastfeeding.
Your doctor, midwife or pharmacist can help you decide.
What this means for you
Pregnancy
- Very little is known about how safe chlorhexidine products are in pregnancy, but they're not thought to cause harm.
Breastfeeding
- If you're putting chlorhexidine on your skin, make sure your baby does not touch the areas where you've used it.
- Wash your hands afterwards, and before you pick up your baby.
- If you're applying chlorhexidine to your breasts or nipples, remove any cream or ointment by washing, then clean your hands, before feeding your baby.
- While breastfeeding, cream is usually a better choice than ointment because it washes off more easily.
- Some chlorhexidine treatments contain other ingredients too, such as steroids, antibacterials and antifungals.
- You can still use these while breastfeeding.
- As soon as you can, get in touch with your health visitor, midwife, doctor or pharmacist if your baby is feeding less well than normal, or if anything else about your baby worries you.
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist
This page is educational, not advice for your own situation. Talk to your doctor, midwife or pharmacist before you start, stop or change any medicine in pregnancy or while breastfeeding.
The details: what each source says
Chlorhexidine in pregnancy
The NHS says
Products containing chlorhexidine are generally thought to be OK to use in pregnancy.
Very little is known about how safe chlorhexidine products are in pregnancy, but they're not thought to cause harm.
In our words, from the NHS page Chlorhexidine (nhs.uk). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3.0). The NHS does not endorse this site.
The US drug label says
Pregnancy: Teratogenic Effect Reproduction studies have been performed in rats and rabbits at chlorhexidine gluconate doses up to 300 mg/kg/day and 40 mg/kg/day, respectively, and have not revealed evidence of harm to fetus. However, adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women have not been done. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response, this drug should be used during pregnancy only if clearly needed.
Prescribing label, section “Pregnancy”: Chlorhexidine Gluconate Oral Rinse (dental), Atlantic Biologicals Corp. Label on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.
This quote is from the dental formulation label.
Chlorhexidine while breastfeeding
The NHS says
You can use any chlorhexidine treatment while breastfeeding.
If you're putting chlorhexidine on your skin, make sure your baby does not touch the areas where you've used it. Wash your hands afterwards, and before you pick up your baby.
If you're applying chlorhexidine to your breasts or nipples, remove any cream or ointment by washing, then clean your hands, before feeding your baby. While breastfeeding, cream is usually a better choice than ointment because it washes off more easily.
Some chlorhexidine treatments contain other ingredients too, such as steroids, antibacterials and antifungals. You can still use these while breastfeeding.
As soon as you can, get in touch with your health visitor, midwife, doctor or pharmacist if your baby is feeding less well than normal, or if anything else about your baby worries you.
In our words, from the NHS page Chlorhexidine (nhs.uk). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3.0). The NHS does not endorse this site.
LactMed says
Chlorhexidine has been used vaginally or topically on the abdomen or perineum prior to delivery to prevent infection. No toxicity has been reported in breastfed infants and it has clearly less toxicity compared to povidone-iodine in these situations. Topical application of chlorhexidine to the breast before and after nursing did not appear to adversely affect the breastfed infants in one study. Use of chlorhexidine oral rinse by a nursing mother is unlikely to adversely affect her infant.
“Summary of Use during Lactation”, LactMed record “Chlorhexidine” (LM494), quoted verbatim. Everything LactMed reports about Chlorhexidine while breastfeeding.
The US prescribing label says
Nursing Mothers It is not known whether this drug is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when chlorhexidine gluconate oral rinse is administered to nursing women. In parturition and lactation studies with rats, no evidence of impaired parturition or of toxic effects to suckling pups was observed when chlorhexidine gluconate was administered to dams at doses that were over 100 times greater than that which would result from a person's ingesting 30 mL (2 capfuls) of chlorhexidine gluconate oral rinse per day.
Prescribing label, section “Nursing Mothers”: Chlorhexidine Gluconate Oral Rinse (dental), Atlantic Biologicals Corp. Label on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.
This quote is from the dental formulation label.
Other names
UK brand names (per the NHS): Corsodyl, Covonia, Dermol, Germolene, Savlon.
Sources
- NHS, Chlorhexidine (nhs.uk), page last reviewed 19 August 2024. Paraphrased. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- US drug label: Chlorhexidine Gluconate Oral Rinse (dental), Atlantic Biologicals Corp., human prescription drug, label effective 10 September 2026, set ID 583986f1-1cce-21c3-e063-6394a90aed1f. DailyMed (National Library of Medicine). Public domain; quoted verbatim.
- Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), via NCBI Bookshelf, record “Chlorhexidine” (LM494), bulk release of 22 September 2026. LactMed on NCBI Bookshelf. Public domain; quoted verbatim. LactMed is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Sources checked 26 September 2026. How we source and check every page.
Educational summary of named sources, not medical advice.