Can I take colecalciferol while pregnant or breastfeeding?
A plain-words look at what the NHS, the US drug label and LactMed say about colecalciferol.
In short
Pregnancy: You're advised to take a daily vitamin D (colecalciferol) supplement, at the standard recommended amount, all through pregnancy.
Breastfeeding: You can take colecalciferol (vitamin D) while breastfeeding.
Your doctor, midwife or pharmacist can help you decide.
What this means for you
Pregnancy
- This helps keep you and your baby healthy.
- Many pregnancy multivitamins already include this amount of vitamin D, in which case you will not need a separate vitamin D supplement.
- Look at the packet to check how much vitamin D it contains.
- If you've been diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency (meaning the vitamin D level in your blood is too low), your doctor or midwife may offer you a higher dose of colecalciferol.
- Higher doses are also safe to take in pregnancy.
- This treatment matters because it helps protect your muscles and teeth, and makes sure your baby's bones and teeth develop strongly.
- You may need extra blood tests to check you're getting enough vitamin D.
Breastfeeding
- Breast milk naturally contains vitamin D.
- When you take colecalciferol as a supplement or treatment, low amounts pass into your breast milk and help keep your baby healthy.
- If you have been prescribed colecalciferol at a very high dose (over 6,000IU a day), extra blood tests may be needed for your baby to check they're not getting too much.
- Babies up to 1 year old need daily vitamin D drops as a supplement.
- Even though your baby gets colecalciferol through your breast milk, it's still safe to give them these drops unless you're taking very high doses of colecalciferol for a long time.
- This makes sure they get enough.
- A baby who has at least 500ml of formula milk a day does not need supplements, because vitamin D is already added to formula milk.
When to get help
- If your baby is not feeding as well as they usually do, or you're worried about your baby in any other way, contact your doctor, pharmacist, health visitor or midwife.
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
Colecalciferol in pregnancy
The NHS says
You're advised to take a daily vitamin D (colecalciferol) supplement, at the standard recommended amount, all through pregnancy. This helps keep you and your baby healthy.
Many pregnancy multivitamins already include this amount of vitamin D, in which case you will not need a separate vitamin D supplement. Look at the packet to check how much vitamin D it contains.
If you've been diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency (meaning the vitamin D level in your blood is too low), your doctor or midwife may offer you a higher dose of colecalciferol. Higher doses are also safe to take in pregnancy. This treatment matters because it helps protect your muscles and teeth, and makes sure your baby's bones and teeth develop strongly.
You may need extra blood tests to check you're getting enough vitamin D.
In our words, from the NHS page Colecalciferol (nhs.uk). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3.0). The NHS does not endorse this site.
Colecalciferol while breastfeeding
The NHS says
You can take colecalciferol (vitamin D) while breastfeeding.
Breast milk naturally contains vitamin D. When you take colecalciferol as a supplement or treatment, low amounts pass into your breast milk and help keep your baby healthy.
If you have been prescribed colecalciferol at a very high dose (over 6,000IU a day), extra blood tests may be needed for your baby to check they're not getting too much.
Babies up to 1 year old need daily vitamin D drops as a supplement. Even though your baby gets colecalciferol through your breast milk, it's still safe to give them these drops unless you're taking very high doses of colecalciferol for a long time. This makes sure they get enough.
A baby who has at least 500ml of formula milk a day does not need supplements, because vitamin D is already added to formula milk.
If your baby is not feeding as well as they usually do, or you're worried about your baby in any other way, contact your doctor, pharmacist, health visitor or midwife.
In our words, from the NHS page Colecalciferol (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
Vitamin D is a normal component of human milk. Daily maternal vitamin D2 or D3 supplementation in the 10 to 50 mcg (400 to 2,000 IU) range produces milk concentrations that are inadequate to deliver the daily requirement to an exclusively breastfed infant, and inadequate to correct pre-existing infant vitamin D deficiency through breastfeeding alone. Breastfeeding mothers who take vitamin D supplements in this range should give their infants a daily vitamin D supplement of at least 10 mcg (400 IU) to meet pediatric nutritional guidelines.[1-3] Daily maternal vitamin D dosages at or above 100 mcg (4,000 IU) achieve milk levels can potentially meet the 10 mcg daily infant goal intake, depending on the mother's underlying vitamin D status and daily infant milk intake. Obese mothers may have higher requirements.
“Summary of Use during Lactation”, LactMed record “Vitamin D” (LM1323), quoted verbatim. Everything LactMed reports about Vitamin D while breastfeeding.
Other names
UK brand names (per the NHS): Lamberts, Hux D3, Solgar, SunVit D3, BetterYou, Desunin, Stexerol, Strivit.
Indian brands (per NPPA): Uprise-D3, D-Rise.
US name: cholecalciferol.
Sources
- NHS, Colecalciferol (nhs.uk), page last reviewed 10 January 2023. Paraphrased. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), via NCBI Bookshelf, record “Vitamin D” (LM1323), 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.